What do you t hink of Jack Straw comment about muslim women removing their veils?

Question

they are advised to remove dit when they come and talk to him? and why should they? what next? asking them to wear a mini skirt?

Answer 1

Former foreign secretary Jack Straw’s comment about the request of asking Muslim women to take the veil off seems to be heating up. Jack Straw wouldn’t budge but instead extended his request to not just the Muslim women within his own constituency who come to meet him but instead prefer to see Muslim across the country to take their veil off. This has the support of over 95% of British public. I reckon it would be a wonderful idea to ban Muslim from their traditional cloth & equally ban Sikh from wearing turban. Such a ban would bring them a step closer to being seen themselves as British first & THEN a member of whatsoever religion they worship.

If the person hiding her face behind a veil feels less comfortable or indeed less confident in disclosing her “face” to a stranger, then I wonder how she would be able to establish a smooth flow of conversation. It’s just beyond me.

Firstly, they choose to LIVE in Britain & hence it’s all THEIR responsibility to work towards integrating them within British society & NOT the vice versa. Integration is NOT an easy thing but for sure NOT impossible. Such a thing requires certain COMPROMISE, which can ONLY be attained at certain PRICE, which again requires having certain ADJUSTMENT on certain principle, the way of life, culture that they're so accustomed with. They LEFT their country to be a part of British society.

Surely, it's just NOT enough to have your BODY in Britain but heart & mind in Bangladesh?

You CANNOT be British when you wish to have:

>> free health care
>> free education
>> social security
>> claim to get taken care by & having support of British government, when caught-up in war-torn region

but DO NOT see yourself as British in other aspects of life, such as lack of ability to speak English or lack of respect for British way of life i.e. focusing more & finger-pointing about certain bad issues within the British society such as teenage pregnancy, binge-drinking, sexual promiscuity, etc.

Surely, there are fair share of things that could be perceived as rather positive about British society i.e. the “true” democracy, where people could have their say in whatsoever way they wish, people being allowed to live a life in whatsoever way they prefer, culture of respect, tolerance, manners & etiquette.

Seems like most of these Muslims fancy focusing ONLY at the negative aspects of our society. Is it a case of seeing glass as half EMPTY as opposed to the other way round?

People riding bike are expected to take their helmets off when entering Banks, Building Society, etc. or else it could raise suspicion. Similarly, recently Britain’s biggest shopping centre Bluewater forbidden people wearing hooded tops, as it could intimidate others.

Islam has NO such strict requirement of people HAVING to wearing veil covering their face but it’s a “personal choice” of women (as it’s often bragged about the same women saying their religion does not FORCE them to do so but they merely do so by their own personal choice) & if it’s personal choice, such a choice is rather rude when speaking to someone. It’s like someone speaking to me but having their eyes elsewhere without seeing me straight in my eyes. Surely, communication depends on visual as well as audio perception, I’d have thought. After all, if that wasn’t the case, there wouldn’t be a difference between customer dealing with call centre staff or having a personal face-to-face conversation with someone within their local branch.

Generally speaking, there are 2 ways of doing things. Sadly in case of Muslims, it’s ONLY one way i.e. THEIR way.

I’m terribly sorry to be highly critical about such an issues that’s often perceived as rather “sensitive” but such individuals raises my heckle for sure. For God sake, this is Britain NOT Beirut or Bangladesh.

I DO NOT need shoddy government forcing me to accustom myself & take pride in so-called “multi-culture” society. Thank you very much but if I fancy a change from my culture then I could have a taste of “multi” culture by spending £500 flying to:

>> India, to witness their culture of being “ill-manners, loud & curry-muncher”
>> Pakistan, to witness their culture of “women suppressing”
>> Bangladesh, to witness their culture of “inter & force marriages”
>> China, to witness their culture of “gagging” Joe Public
>> America, to witness their culture of “patriotism”
>> Jamaica, to witness their culture of “mugging & drugging”
>> France, to witness their culture of “rudeness & moustache”
>> Saudi Arabia, to witness their culture of “stoning women to death” in public

I don’t need multi-culture; I ONLY want one culture i.e. BRITISH culture, a culture of respect, tolerance, freedom, true democracy.

I’m NOT racist ……. just REALISTIC !!!

Answer 2

For our American friends Jack Straw is a former Foreign Secretary in Tony Blairs government. Members of Parliament have a 'surgery' where they can meet their constituents face to face on a one to one basis.
He has created a storm by insisting that Muslim women remove their veils while talking to him in his office.
I think there may be a security agenda here and technically Jack may be out of order and heading for yet another Fatwa.
Lots of talk in the answers about multi-cultural harmony, but this is unlikely until the Muslims stop planting bombs in their adopted country.

Answer 3

First of all, I would like to say that I am not politically inclined to either side, and neither I am English, so I am impartial in what I am saying here.
People has made a huge fuss because he is a politician, if I said it, no one would give a ****. He was telling his experience, he didn't create a new law, if he had, I would be against, as that wouldn't be respectful.
England was a free country last time I looked. You can say (RESPECTFULLY TO OTHERS, AND THEIR RELIGIONS AND BELIEFS), what you think or feel, he felt uncomfortable talking to a woman whose face he couldn't see, so what? Other people told me that before and no one went crazy. To be honest, that's how most of people feels when talking to someone you can't see.
If England is as cosmopolitan as it looks to me, then why is people is so surprised at a remark? Is it the way the media manipulate it and make it offensive?
People, just move on.

Answer 4

Two things
1) He expressed a preference (not an instruction) and visitors are under no obligation to follow his preference. I happen to support his preference in the hope that full burka's are culturally inadvisable else discrimination legislation will go nuts eg supplying call centre staff with specialist equipment so that they can enact their work whilst in the equivalent of a mobile tent

2) He is a scheming politician on the make who issued a juicy comment for the media to go into a frenzy to (a) to eclipse coverage of the Conservative conference (b) increase his chances to become deputy leader of the labour party. And the media (and the blogs) fell obligingly into his arms

Answer 5

Whilst muslims may object. I honestly think people have to realise that currently being 'too' different compared to other members of the public doesn't help in getting along with eachother. In my opinion the motive behind the request was the right one and to gain eachothers trust people do need to do what they can to remove some of these barriers. This is one example of where that would be practical & as we've been 'too' politically correct in some circumstances it's high time we learned from that and moved forward.

Answer 6

Sorry but I see it as totally understandable, you want to be able to talk to someone and read their facial expressions so as to communicate better. You ever tried having a conversation with somone wearing sunglasses? It's very annoying If you listened to what was said the women didnt mind. The mini skirt comment is completely out of order and in no way related to you question.

Answer 7

Its NOTHING like asking them to wear a mini skirt. Jack Straw is right in what he says. If something is not absolutely crucial then it would be better for muslim women to forego wearing the rag if it means they will be better accepted. If I went to a muslim country and bared my stomach or wore a mini skirt would I be accepted - NO. People moan about teenagers wearing hoodies because it hides their identity - muslim women in full black dress and mask are far worse in my opinion.

Answer 8

The veil is an obsession of Muslim men who regard women as personal property and want to keep their faces hidden from the view of others. The same idea applies to sunglasses. When you are having a personal face-to-face conversation with someone it is best to be able to have eye contact. Sunglasses and veils are not appropriate under this circumstance.

The Qur'an does not require women to be veiled, it's the possessive men who don't want anyone else to see what they've got.

Answer 9

Jack Straw made a valid statement.
It increasingly seems to me that muslims in this country use their religion to make loud, and all too often, violent political statements.
It appears they are ever willing to use islam as a battering-ram to cow the rest of us into submission.
Who else, (apart from the hunting/fishing/shooting brigade), has taken to the streets in such large numbers in order to scream and rant against the state.
Their banners are ever at the ready, denouncing our way of life, our freedoms and our values.
Thank God this is a Christian country, and determined to remain so.

Answer 10

As I understand it, JS is trying to deal with a communication problem.

People go to visit him - their choice - at his constituency meetings and he can't hear a flaming word being said to him because... and this may come as a suprise... when you've got your face covered, it's difficult to have a conversation!

One of the reasons why muslim women are ordered to weir these veils is to "keep them in their place" (not my attitude) in a similiar way that we used to talk about children "seen and not heard". Although in this case the poor woman isn't seen either.

If JS was female and non muslim visiting a mosque (she) would be obliged to cover up in respect to islam. But the minute he asks that they uncover purely for practical reasons, and perhaps out of respect, they scream racism!

I am sure that JS, as do I, respect the rights of muslims... but I ask you, if we happened to be a country that believed in , for example, nudity before your peers and asked all visitors to the UK to strip off... I very much doubt they would show us the same respect they demand (before its offered) of us.

I think it's a case where the request is not offensive, but has been CHOSEN to be taken as offensive, for political and, hypocritically, racist reasons.

Answer 11

If their religion is to wear the veils, then so be it. They should not expect though, for anyone to support them if the person does not believe in it. Thumbs up Jack Straw.