Friday, October 06, 2006
Unveiling the madness
Here we go again. Muslims aren't happy over something that was said. Aaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhh! Sorry. I just needed to vent my frustration on yet another one of these mundane, non-issues that seemingly always become issues.Seriously Muslims, when a guy like me who is primarily fascinated with the tedium that is Irish politics starts to get fed up, something is definitely not right.
For those of you unaware, British Cabinet Minister Jack Straw has faced a backlash from members of the Muslim community after he stated he would prefer Muslim women not to wear veils which cover their face.
The Commons leader said he did not want to be "prescriptive" but he believed that covering people's faces could make community relations more difficult.
Mr Straw has said he asks Muslim women at his Blackburn constituency surgeries if they would mind removing veils.
While some Muslims have said they understand his concerns, others have gone positively bonkers. For instance, the Islamic Human Rights Commission called Mr Straw's views "astonishing" and accused him of discrimination. Seriously. Meanwhile the Protect-Hijab organisation said the "appalling" comments showed "a deep lack of understanding".
Notice again a situation where the typical buzz words get thrown about as opposed to the actual issue at hand being discussed. "Discrimination" now is it? Yeah sure pal. Usually you can be sure the 'R' word will be closely behind - 'racism'. You wonder if you should laugh or cry at this load of nonsense!
Not sure how she feels about it...
Here's my thoughts on this matter - let people wear what they want. I've seen plenty of Muslim women around Dublin wearing these full-length veils and I scarcely give it a second thought. With regard to dealing with Muslim women on a one-to-one basis, I can understand wanting to speak face to face so I don't see a problem in Mr Straw asking for women to remove their veils. Ultimately it would still be up to them if they do or not.
As an aside, I do find it interesting that while there have been calls in Britain for youths to stop wearing hoodies in supermarkets since they obstruct CCTV cameras, there doesn't seem to be any calls, most likely due to petrified politically correct politicians, concerning asking Muslim women to remove their face-covering clothes. Fancy that!
What really irks me about this issue though is the simple fact that it has become an issue. Why? Why is this a big deal? I heard about this story maybe a day or two ago and I was convinced that nothing more would come of it. I mean come on, surely Muslims aren't going to get upset over THIS? But no. I was wrong. Yet another thing for Muslims to get their knickers, veils, or whatever in a twist.
Utter madness. With the way Muslims carry on in Britain these days you'd think they were suffering immense oppression there. If things are so bad in their eyes why don't they go live in a Muslim country?
I'm sick and tired of this Muslimania. Next week's groundbreaking story - John Prescott gets into trouble when he tries to persuade a Muslim man to go for a drink with him. Chaos ensues (sigh).
I think the media have a lot to answer for here. They are the ones who continue to stir this stuff up. Let's get back to having the news be about key issues of importance rather than this sort of over-the-top, shallow stupidity.
What Muslims need to cover up more than anything else is their hysterical hostility towards every single bit of criticism that comes their way.
# posted by United Irelander @ 4:54 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
