Religious injunctions must also be subject to the golden rule.

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Feb 21, 2013 at 16:46

Dear Dr Pipes:

Your article about Philadelphia's burqa crisis describes serious situations where a person hiding behind a burqa committed a serious crime. But the matter goes deeper than that. Religious injunctions should also be subject to golden rule. It is a matter of common sense that in a social situation if I cannot see your face but you can see mine, I am at a disadvantage. Would you like to do a high stake business negotiation with a burqa clad person? Would you like to play poker with a person in a ski mask?

If a person asks me directions on a city street and I run away, I will be considered bad. If a person wearing a ski mask asks me directions on a city street and I run away, I will be considered wise. If a person wearing a burqa asks me directions on a city street and I run away, I will be considered islamophobe.

When will muslims understand that their orthodoxy may be a burden on the rest of teh society. Every religion should reexamine its old principles and determine if those principles stand up to modern ethics. Most religions have. But Islam has not.

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