What About Freedom of Religion? Germany Proposes Ban on Burqas

by Jacob Nestle

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere just announced a potential ban on full-face veils. The announcement was made at a press conference. The Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union, which rule by coalition, are in agreement on this issue.

Maiziere said that “Full-face veils, as mentioned, we reject this. Not just the burka, any full-face veils that only shows eyes of a person.” When such a ban would take effect was not specified.

Why such a ban? Because “It does not fit into our society for us, for our communication, for our cohesion in the society…”

That’s nice, I guess. But de Maiziere didn’t even pretend like this was a voluntary choice. He followed the above statement with “This is why we demand you show your face,” [emphasis mine].

Yikes.

What’s better is that apparently the Berlin Interior Minister, Frank Henkel, cared even less about looking authoritarian. He was quoted as saying that full-face veils, some examples of which are shown below, “[do] not fit in with our understanding of a tolerant, free society. It does not fit in with our view of women.”

Women are no longer allowed to determine how they are viewed in Germany, it seems.

 

Four different common veil types worn. Clockwise from top left, they are the Hijab, Niqab, Burqa, and Tchador.

 


This isn’t just a German problem, either. Germany is proposing bans. France has actually gone through with such bans. This includes a (temporary) ban on so-called ‘burkinis.’ When Cannes banned those, there was an outcry. The right was up in arms for France, for once. But they were focused solely on the idea that weapons could be hidden in a burkini. Let me pull up a picture…

 

She’s definitely got a bomb in there somewhere.

 

Wow. I’m so terrified of her.

Now, I’m not opposed to a nation taking steps to protect itself. But this is getting ridiculous.

 


France has a case for security. Germany is not even bothering to make that case.

There is nothing wrong with secularism and social progressivism by themselves. There isn’t. If it weren’t for both, the feminist movement would be stuck in the 20th century. There is a difference, though, between allowing equal opportunity and forcing feminist ideas onto women who, frankly, don’t always want them.

This is a problem because it infringes directly onto religious freedom. If you think that “it’s just targeting Muslims” then you probably need to get out more. An infringement is an infringement whether it’s against you or not. If they come for the Muslims first and say that a Muslim woman can’t wear a burqa, where do they stop? Now, Germany doesn’t have something like the American Bill of Rights. Such a ban is probably legal. There is even an argument to be made in Muslim circles that the burqa didn’t apply to all Muslim women, just Muhammad’s wives.

But none of that matters.

Freedom of religion and, by extension, freedom of belief, are the cornerstones of a classically liberal society. When we subvert them, we cut the ground from underneath our own feet. Freedom of expression is the first thing they come for. The next is freedom of speech. Finally, even freedom of thought is gone.

I’m not trying to be alarmist here. These are the real consequences of letting stuff like this happen. Christians may feel good about it because secularism isn’t hitting them for once. I know many who do. But we who know what to look out for — those who study history, lest we repeat it — don’t like it. I don’t like this ban one bit. I’m not at all Muslim; I identify as a strong Christian. However, there is no universe in which a ban on burqas is good. It does not permit religious freedom. It’s a bunch of old white guys telling women they can’t wear what they want. Why isn’t there a feminist outcry over this?

Between this and California’s recent proposal to ban undercover videos, the 21st century is looking more Orwellian than one would hope. Let’s hope the Germans see reason.

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