You are spot on, linda

Submitted by Edward (South Africa), Jul 14, 2008 at 01:32

Hi Linda Korrow. I will respond to you on only four of the statements that caught my interest in your latest rebuttal.

1) "That mode of dress is viewed by many Americans as the ultimate form of suppression of human rights".

Yes, i agree with you on this. We might only fail to agree on the reason why. To me, the reason is because you people hate islam and every time you see a person dressed like so, you want to pass out owing to heartily disgust. Althouth you want to claim that it is because these women have been required to do so, which may be the case in some middle east countries, i can bet that every woman in the US, even as young as 6 knows it that if they chose to walk on the street in knickers alone, NO ONE would dare touch them.

How many covered up women have you seen on chicago streets? How many cases have been reported to police anywhere in the US, of a woman claiming that she has been forced to dress against her will? My submission therefore is that these women do value their bodies as temples of god, they do value their personal integrity and have willingly chosen to practice a religion they believe gives them spiritual and personal fulfillment (consistent with the principles of democracy and liberty!) but because you passionately hate islam, you want to force them to believe that "look, you are actually being forced! It aint your choice."

Otherwise, why would you want to argue that when Britney spears flashes her bare private parts to the public as she steps out of her car in a mini dress without panties, that is liberty and personal choice yet when some sunita williams chooses to respect and dignify her body and privacy by covering up, it is the very extreme of human rights violations. Come on, be fair! What happened to reason?

2) "I suspect these women would freak out if they were searched bodily".

If you are sincere to yourself, and you honestly believe that some one will freak if they are searched personally, what do you expect if you required that person to dress with her breasts, thighs and all exposed? In Uganda, particularly at makerere University, owing to high cases of exam cheats, the university took a decision to ban all islamic coverings as they were being exploited to hide illegal exam material. We protested to this and suggested that a female official be availed at every entry to exam halls, to thoroughly check all covered up ladies so they can proceed to the exam hall with their dresses intact.

This has been implemented and for two semesters now, no lady has complained of extra searching and the university has not complained of moslem ladies again. Afterall, some of these were non moslem ladies dressing in islamic dresses to exploit their opportunity for cheating in exams. Trust me, NO woman will complain that she has been searched at an airport or other place, unless of course you also abuse it and male officers start molesting the poor women. So the solution actually works!

3) "A person's religion was not important to me until after I learned about Islam in more detail after 9/11. It can not be described as a religion alone, I think you'll agree."

Unfortunately i dont. Islam is a way of life. Although its provisions in some areas extend to have political connotations, none of these have been applied or asked to be applied in america. No trace of sharia law can be said to have been applied in america. This though does not mean that other sovereign countries do not have the right to choose which system of law to apply, including sharia law. So if it is being applied in other countries, it isnot a matter for america to go and sort. International principles are clear, and this was further re affirmed at the summit just last week, you can intervene in matters to do with ensuring international security but NEVER to meddle into the domestic affairs of countries. I therefore request that from now on, loom at islam as a religion and look at moslems as human beings, period! A person's religion is not important, even to me.

4) "So, if a Muslim practices his or her religion, it is inconsistent with American values and the spirit of our Constitution and country."

I asked you last time to point out for me just ONE practice in Islam which in any way contravenes any one provision of the american constitution. Kindly stop begging the question, by generalising that islam is inconsistent with the spirit of your country. point out for me ONE example on this, else, take it from here that islam and the american constitution are a perfect blend. I must add here though that this can only be true to the extent that you stop discriminating between liberties. Only if we stop looking at a freely naked woman as liberated and a freely covered up woman as oppressed. That is called skewing the spirit.

I hope i am being clear, linda and all.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".