बुरका बुरका बुरका

Today the lower house of the French government approved a ban on all face-covering items of clothing in public. Not only has this forced the shamed French national soccer team to take the brown bags off of their heads, but was poignantly passed to prevent an incredibly small number of Muslim women from wearing their burkas. To clear up some definitions, a "burka" is a Muslim garment worn by women that covers their entire body, from their hair and face down to their ankles. "Incredibly small number" refers to the total of around 2000 French Muslim women who actually wear the burka. What the law essentially says is that if you are caught wearing this burka in public, you will be escorted home by the police and fined 150 Euros. If you are a man caught forcing a woman to wear the burka (as the case may be in more fundamentalist households), the financial penalty is slightly more severe. So although the wording of this law is generic, it is very clear that it targets Muslim women and men. In defense of the law, I have heard arguments made that this act is a gesture of the French government towards the empowerment of women and destruction of forced submission to male domination as mandated in some Islamic interpretations. Another reason is for the public safety - these garments are rather loose and since the wearer's identity is unknown due to the covering of the face, a male could theoretically adorn a burka loaded with explosives. In addition to that, the argument has been made that those who wear burkas are more likely to subscribe to a fundamental belief in Islam, which would also lead to a literal interpretation of the Qur'an, and more violent means of communication. As logical as that may unfold, it is still a bit of a stretch given the history of men wearing burkas to mask explosives. Which to my knowledge, does not exist.

We would never-ever-in-a-million-years see this passed in the United States, of course, because of our beloved First Amendment right to the freedom of religion. Considering the fact that the burka is a part of these French citizen's bona fide religion, the American government does not have the power to prevent them from practicing it. And what a blessing that is! That means that public school teachers can wear cross necklaces, DMV employees can wear yarmulkes, and the President can end his oath with, "So help me God," and we do not have to worry about the government telling us that we cannot. But this isn't the United States - it's France.

France has an interesting history with religion. Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, the French royalty enjoyed a perverted marriage with the Catholic Church. They were more or less synonymous, with the King taking orders from Rome and Church officials enjoying privileged benefits only the royalty could offer. Of course, since the distribution of wealth was so slanted against the Third Estate, there was a common disdain towards the Bourbon family, and the corrupt Catholic Church. When the French revolutionaries executed the King and Queen and dismissed the unpopular monarchy, they also tried to cleanse their country of the crooked Church. This legacy still appears in France today, as we see the concept of laïcité, or freedom FROM religion. The French revolutionaries pushed so hard for absolute equality (they seemed to ignore the inevitable occurrence of a hierarchy inherent to democracy) and absolute consent among the people. Any dissent was punished with the guillotine, and is known as the Reign of Terror. This included religion. Not only was any political dissent discouraged, because it was breaking away from the perfect form of anti-monarchy government, but so was expression of religious sentiment.

As a result of this history and efforts to recognize absolute equality among the French, we see common religious symbols being outlawed in France, so as to not even show religion, much less promote it. Since the American revolution was about channeling debate, not punishing it, we have a different kind of freedom, and are able to show our religion, so much as the Federal or State governments don't prohibit or promote it.