Slightly Political.....

[peterh770]

A friend of mine just moved to Morocco. I told her that the minute I hear she is under a burqua I'm flying over there personally to snatch her ass back to civilization. Her fiance is starting to make noise that she "has to start behaving" like other women there. Her family here thinks it is "cute" the way he behaves like a parent toward her. I hear something very different and very not cute in these stories.

 

[rp2813]

Peter, keep tabs on that situation and make your rescue mission if necessary. It is anything but "cute" and the fiance's motives need to be questioned. Your accounting of the situation echoes dalangdon's concern in his post directly above yours. It all strikes me as oppressive against women and just like with the situation described further above regarding nuns, should be optional for all Muslim women to subscribe to this tradition or not. After Vatican II there were still plenty of nuns who chose to stick with their traditional habit. This is how it should be for Muslim women as well, in my opinion. I sit across from such a woman at work. She's absolutely American and one of the most conspicuous consumers I know, she lives in a huge house and is fresh out of closet space. I can tell you there's no way she'd ever be caught dead in a burqua. I hope your friend feels the same way and stands her ground.

 

[peterh770]

Has anyone seen that email flying around about some Australian politician that said that if Australian Muslims do not follow that countries laws, they can move someplace else or risk being deported?

 

[rp2813]

Peter, I believe I did get a copy of that e-mail recently. I don't know if it's on the level or not.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I think it is dangerous when they drive wearing this because it reduces peripheral vision. I think Florida finally ruled that Muslim women do not have to uncover their faces for the driver's license photo, but it seems strange because in the areas that require that garb, women are not allowed to drive. It sounds like a cafeteria system where you choose what you want to observe and I think a lot of us can relate to that. We have no law demanding the coverup, but if the religious community or family is so strict that it demands that they coverup, it seems like the regulation or code being followed would forbid them from driving.

 

[oxydolfan1]

To me, the solution is clear.

If you cannot show your face to have your picture taken, than you simply have to do without a driver's license.

This is just common sense.

 

[mattywashboy]

The Australian Perspective

Our main concern with regrads to muslims is the fact that they have come to australia and formed little communities of their own and apparently laws and rules of australia do not apply to them. There is constant upheavel between these people and australians because when we go to their countries we have to cover our hair, bow, pray and all sorts of things to tie in with their religion and beliefs, when they come here they do nothing to fit in with our society, they have their own churches built, community centers etc and they just do not abide by australias societal norms. I have had women come through my cigarette counter wearing their head dress and they were asked to remove it, in order to do this they had to be taken into the office with another FEMALE member of staff and checked there. My job description underlines that i must ID people who i am unsure are old enough to buy cigarettes, its the law.
I don't think Muslims should be 'shown the door' but i do believe the government needs to enforce the laws of our country so that we are no getting taken advantage of. We bend over backwards to accomodate them into our society and to adapt to their society, its time they did the same for us.
Here endeth the lesson
Matthew

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www.greenleft.org.au

 

[gizmo]

The article in your link is interesting Matty.

I am more inclined to agree with the attitude of the article you linked to, than your own paragraph.
Good to see that GLW can see through the BS that Howard is spreading about the "Australian Values Test". It takes years, even generations, for new arrivals to adjust to their new home country, and for their new country to adapt to them a little too. (and that is not a bad thing!) I am old enough to remember the crap said about Greeks and Italians when they came here in the 60s and 70s, and the BS about "ten pound Poms" too (hide your money under the soap, no Pom will ever find it there). Later I lived in Richmond which was always a suburb where new arrivals congregated for a few years. The Vietnamese population was said to be "taking over" and small minded locals (ironically including many of Italian and Greek descent) gossiped about the Asian grocery stores, the sea of Asian faces in Victoria street, radio troublemongers carried on about knife-wielding gangs of Vietnamese youths. I lived right there and never found the Vietnamese people to be anything but polite, gentle, kind, enthusiastic, bringing a range of fabulous foods to Victoria Street's already eclectic mix. More recently African migrants and Arab migrants are coming, many of whom are Muslim, and the racist ratbags have changed a few words but their tune is still the same. The main change this decade seems to be the Government is encouraging the xenophobia (a Greek word for you Toggle!) instead of fighting it as in the past.

It sickens and frightens me. We are heading so fast back to the bad old days.

I may not like the idea of the burqua, but I also acknowledge the right for people who want to, to wear one. To me, the right of a paunchy middle aged man to wear nothing but a g-string in the Sydney Mardi Gras parade is as important as the right of a Muslim woman who wishes to wear a burqua or a nun to wear her habit. Of course not all Muslim women wear a burqua ayway, there is as much variety amongst Muslims as there is amongst Christians. We gays are a bit of an assortment too, despite being tarred with the same brush by the ratbags for so long. Wouldn't life be dull if we were all one homogeneous mass?

Anyway I'm up past my bedtime so goodnight all.

Chris.

 

[toggleswitch]

xenophobia (a Greek word ......!)

Queens County is one of the 5 boroughs/counties/areas that encompass New York City. It is literally the most diverse county in the COUNTRY population-wise.

People say travel to foreign countries to get an international flair. I say come visit me and I will show you more authentic and better quality foods/ attire/ cultures/ customs than you will get "back there" in the country of origin.

I think we have a more live-and-let live attitude here than in most places.

I just don't want insect infestations, obnoxioius cooking odors and to see your laundry drying in the FRONT of your home, right next to someone else hanging out smoked fish to get sun or air or whatever it is they are doing.

I remeber seeing a homeless /mentally-ill person in downtown Omaha, NE during the convention of 2005. He looked very different than I do. Others shied away, I RESPONSED to the person that had a question. He was hungry and /or begging. "Here is $2 be-well" I got a heart-felt God-bless-you and everyone came out just fine.

There is no need to fear the unknown. Every living being contributes to the cosmos. (some in more positve ways than others).

(Ducks and runs).

 

[oxydolfan1]

Queens is ethnically diverse, I'll grant you that....

But you're STILL more likely as a gay person to be bashed in Astoria, Upper Ditmars, and portions of Woodside and Sunnyside then ten years ago.

Also, unlike ten years ago, the basher is now much more likely to be a drastically different culture then ours, or an anchor baby, so my question is, how exactly are WE safer, as a result of these changes?

 

[toggleswitch]

Today's (rough) trade is tomorrow's competion.

Can't say that for sure.

You see, in my personal case, I have learned in 10 years to [sing it girls] walk like a man, talk like a man.... etc. Now I carry myself with some assurance that I will F$%^ing kill anyone that DARES come near me to cause trouble. Ever see stilettos used as a boomerang? Right in the spiritual third-eye! I may be assualted or killed but I will take your low-life MF-ing @$$ out WITH ME. *LOL* (OK Toggle-baby put away your NY attitude).

The pendulum of tolerance verus in-tolerance swings (HA HA HA HA) both-ways in this country as do upswings and down-turns in the economy and conservatism and radicalism in the politial arena. So I have seen it fly to the extremes a few times.