Sarkozy: No Place for Burqas in France

good discussion but a tricky one to answer (which i why i think you have no responses) on the one hand i agree that you should adapt to the country you are living in (and i also very much disapprove of the burqa). however i also dislike the idea of a government telling people what they can and cannot wear. be interesting if anyone from france responds here.

Oh you are going to probly see a lot of screaming about this one. Or at least france is going to hear a lot of screaming about this one. But I have to agree with France. If you any country than you have to adapt to their culture. YOu can't espect that country to adapt to yours. You are the immigrant after all....not them.

I totally agree with President Sarkozy on this! As someone else pointed out, France isn't a "free country" to the same extent as the U.S. is but that notwithstanding I'm all for freedom and I don't wish to seem "insensitive" to others' religious beliefs or customs that I admittedly don't understand AT ALL, I think this goes far beyond exercising one's "freedom of expression". A burqa obviously makes it impossible to identify someone, not the mention the fact that just about anything could be hidden underneath one, so it's a safety and security issue above all. To me, women being forced to wear burqas is a form of abuse and even if they're not "forced", I believe they've been oppressed and basically brainwashed into thinking it's correct. Again, I don't want to be insensitive and I sure don't mean to offend anyone, but that's the way I feel. Great post! Annie

Well France isn't a free country as we know it in the US. I personally have no problem with women who choose to wear burqas. For me the only exception is that I feel their face must be visible to things like Driver's licenses and passport photos. I remember a big controversy here in Florida when a woman had a DL photo with only her eyes showing. So many people insisted she should not have to show her face and that it would violate her religious freedom. Of course it later came out that the woman was a criminal who was using her supposedly Muslim faith to get away with criminal acts. She abused her daughter and used a burqa to hide the bruises and tried to get the evidence of such abuse thrown out at trial by claiming the police violated her and her daugher's religious rights.

What about head covering without covering face? France claim to be a secular country, it allow people to walk on bikini, but does not allow if someone don't want to show her body to everyone. That is the moral of the country! Instead France respecting belief of people, France forcing it to the people to break the morals of the people. Now, don't blame Saudi Arabia for telling woman to cover the body when you visit there. Peace.

As the rabbit said above, this is a tangled issue. Yes immigrants should try to assimilate into their new CHOSEN homeland, CHOSEN being the operative word. When one Chooses to relocate, the immigrant assumes a new responsibility to the country/people they have become a part of. Most immigrants give up a great deal to get to that new country, up to and including language, religious observations, culturally conflicting activities. (like no roasting the neighbors goat on a spit or cockbird fighting) Sarkozy is right, IMO, to ban the burqua. However, I see woman here in Philadelphia who are American, have never been to the middle east, practice Islam and CHOOSE to wear a burqua (the full face covering). The problem lies in Identification. The French had a huge issue with their National/EU ID cards and the burqua wearing. No one should have their face covered on an identification card, it defeats the purpose completely. If you cannot, for moral/religious reasons, uncover your face, stay in the places that that is acceptable!! Forcing an entire country to change to accommodate a religious edict is unreasonable.