Religious symbols?

Question

Thanks to those who gave their opinion on the right of Muslim women to wear the veil. I am now writing a follow up article as the veil debate seems to have spread out into the issue of whether it's ok to wear religious symbol, eg the BA worker losing her appeal to wear the cross. Do you think it is double standards?

Would love to know what you think! Cheers.

Answer 1

yes. It is a double standards.

The world is afraid of the Muslims and their world, and it seems that PC comes in to their aid all the time, and when it comes to people like the lady who was forced to take off her cross in BA, and like the boy who was forced to take off his Cross in Australia, and others, but when it comes to the Muslims, the world is afraid of them, and they are getting what they want.

It is absurd who the protect of the faith, Prince charlie, is not standing up for his own religion when it comes to his own people, but when it comes to the Muslims! he is becoming the useful idiot, and does what they please. He wants to be protector of faiths, not The faith. The problem he is not protecting his own now. can you imagine what will happen if he became a king! Good God, God Help the English from kings like him!!
Just my opinion.

Answer 2

No not double standards at all.

The teacher is hiding her face which affects the people she is teaching. Apart from some people finding it intimidating, kids cannot see her facial expressions and it is a barrier that may stop her speech being so clear.

As for the BA worker - Well all it was was a small cross, Other faiths were allowed to wear / show visible religious symbols, BA uses the Union Flag as part of their main logo which has religious symbols in it (Cross of St Andrew & Cross of St George) and finally .............This is going to sound bad ............... We do live in a CHRISTIAN country, why is Christianity sidelined in favour of other religions. NOT BY THE OTHER FAITHS SUCH AS MUSLIMS, SIKHS, HINDUS ETC - BUT BE PEOPLE IN OFFICES DECIDING WHAT WILL & WON'T OFFEND OTHERS WITHOUT EVEN ASKING THOSE CONCERNED. Ask a Muslim / Sikh etc they objected to the BA worker wearing a cross - THEY WOULD NOT MIND OR CARE.

In a nutshell religious symbolism is fine (all faiths) - as long it does not adversly affect a task in hand. If it does, look for a compromise. The Sikhs carry a knife as part of their culture, however, it is not practical to carry a blade, in public so........ they compromised - they carry a much smaller version of the knife, under their cloths, which is blunted - COMMON SENSE WINS !!!!!!!!!!

Why couldn't the teacher concerned just remove it for lessons, then replace it afterwards for other times !!!!!!!

Answer 3

No i don't think it is a double standard. She was aloud to wear her cross, no one asked her to remove it, they only asked that it was covered by her neck scarf. The difference between her wearing a cross and other workers being aloud to wear head scarfs, turbans and Sikh bracelets is because these are an obligation of the religion, her wearing a cross as a christian is not an obligation of her faith. There is no where in the bible that says she has to wear a cross as a symbol of her faith. And its exactly that a "symbol" for Muslim women a head scarf is not a symbol it is a obligation we follow. The same for Sikhs with there turbans and bracelets. She was aloud to wear her cross but she was not willing to cover it at work. It was her choice not to follow the companies rules. I have to add however i do think it is a ridiculous rule. Who is it that this cross is going to offend so. I'm a Muslim i see people wearing crosses everyday i don't find it offensive in the slightest. Its a sad, sad day when people have to stop doing things that cause no harm to anyone else just because some do gooder somewhere thinks its going to offend someone. The woman should be aloud to wear her cross its not harming anyone, but it is not an obligation of Christianity to wear a cross it is a choice, and there in lies the difference.

CHANCER i've lived in th UK all my life and no where is anyone pandering to Muslims. Was it muslims that where offended by the cross? NO so shut up. And i dont know where you get the notion the british people are too polite to say anything. What a load of c r a p. People in Britain complain if you step in front of them at a bus stop. Just see them go off and then tell me they are too polite. Rubbish.

Answer 4

I haven't kept up on either of these issues, both have really ticked me off too much to follow them. The irony is I'm an atheist, yet I'm pissed as hell at both issues.

On the veil subject(don't recall if I weighed in on your other question or not), if it's not a safety issue or a distraction, then I say it's the woman's business if she wants to wear a veil or not. People shouldn't be offended by it any more than they would be a Jewish yarmulke(I don't think I spelled that right, darn...). It's her religious tenet that a woman must be modest, so don't force her to be immodest by making her remove the veil.

For the cross(I'm assuming it's an earring or necklace sort of thing), again, the same thing applies. If it's not a safety issue(like for farming, my dad's a farmer and doesn't wear his wedding band while working with machinery lest his ring get caught and, well, tear it and his finger off) or overly distracting and ostentatious, then what's the big deal?

I can understand places not letting women wear huge hoop or dangly earrings or necklaces that could get caught on something, but if it's your average small gold cross on a chain that's not any bigger than a square inch, so what? It's not gonna get caught, and it's not going to be a huge, noticeable distraction, so let her wear it.

Most dress codes I know of are in place to make sure people are dressed neat and tidy instead of sloppy. People don't like to shop where people aren't clean and washed and in the case of things like doctors, uncleanliness is a health hazard. Some are also in place for safety, like wearing things that won't get caught in machinery for things like farming or heavy industry.

And some prohibit offensive things, like swear words and graphic nudity. If I saw someone wearing a shirt on the street that had something foulmouthed on it, I'd ignore it. Free speech 'n all. But if someone in a store I frequented that worked there with a shirt that said something like F-You, I'd turn right around and go someplace else.

Religion is NOT something to get offended over. I've seen people wear crosses before and it doesn't bother me any. So they believe in God, so what? People have said "bless you" when I sneezed, I don't turn around and smack them. And this time of year, I have people in stores say "Merry Christmas", but I don't get so pissed that I call the local lawyer's office afterwards.

It's her belief, let her express it. If the jewelry or whatever isn't a safety hazard or a huge distraction, so what? It's not hurting anyone. People need to stop being so sensitive and get over it. People have different faiths and are free to express them. Long as nobody's being discriminatory or obscene, it's no big deal. Let her wear the religious symbol.

Answer 5

Of course it is a double standard. All people, as individuals, should have the right to wear articles of clothing or jewelry which symbolize the religion with which they identify. Rules that go against this are oppressive to the individuals and have no place in a free society.

As a Christian, it pains me to see when a Christian is oppressed in the same manner as that BA worker was. But, in fairness, I would feel equally about a muslim who is disallowed to wear a veil, or a witch who is disallowed to wear a pentagram. While I don't agree with islam or witchcraft, it is not about agreement with their religion, but rather agreement with their rights as individuals to choose how they worship and how they express themselves as individuals.

There is definitely a line that can be crossed, and muslim veils approaches that line, because you can't have people insisting that since they are practitioner of tantric sex that they must work naked; therefore, in some cases, social norms must override an individual's self-expression. The idea is to see what is reasonable to society. Most people, regardless of religion, find it unreasonable for a person to wear outlandish clothing (or none). But most people would not find it outlandish to wear a head covering or a piece of jewelry. The problem lies in people singling out a particular head covering (muslim veil) or piece of jewelry (Christian cross); it is at that point that it becomes religious oppression.

Answer 6

personal opinion is that as long as the Religious Symbol is in good taste and within a reasonable size there should be no problem in any person wearing Religious Symbols of any Belief System. all have free will as long as the free will and rights of others are respected along with the laws rules and mores of the Country in which one resides. think persons hired already and prospective employees should be made aware of company policy regarding this matter and if someone has a problem then they need to speak with company headquarters.

Answer 7

It is double standards. Saying it is isn't is very narrow minded. We can do this but you can't do that! That belongs in the playground.
If it wasn't for the muslim community riding on the back of the fear created by extremists, it wouldn't even be an issue.
Anyone with an issue such as this, knows that it will go to national headlines in a matter of days.

Answer 8

Muslim woman that wear Burkas or veils are free to do so in the desert or among their own kind BUT when interacting with normal society ... western society then be so kind as to remove the ghastly thing!

We Brits now pay the price of open liberal immigration...Muslims seek to rule over usmor kill us in the process.

Instead of assimilating into their Host country they do things here that prove day in and day they care for themselves alone and their plan of world dominion!

Answer 9

A Muslim woman has to wear the veil (you know why, I don't need to explain it), a Christian isn't required to wear the cross.

But it is a tough debate, over whether it's a double slandered to o.k. one and not the other.
Because we want to keep places religiously neutral, so everyone is comfortable, yet some women have to wear this veil, it's really quite a predicament.

Answer 10

Its called pandering to minoritys like Muslims because British people are basically polite and tend to let most things slip by,but on the other hand we dont forget when things like the B.A fiasco happen.

The B.N.P gain more votes every time some utter tripe like this comes up.