AR,
Re the burqa bandits: criminals use all kinds of clothing, disguise and equipment to help them commit their crimes.

CJ made excellent points when he said,
"Any security concerns can easily be allayed by regulation and practice, rather than legislation...".
The pantyhose example is excellent.

Criminals also use false beards and moustaches, full face masks, and in countries with cold climates everyone walks around in public with faces covered up by balaclavas and scarves all winter long.

Not only do criminals use disguises and pieces of clothing to cover themselves but they use organisations, corporations and churches as a cover-up for their filthy crimes and tax frauds in a far greater scale than the handful of burqa bandits.

“When he returned, he duly wore his saffron robes into town. Twice I figured he realised how ridiculous he looked.”

CJ Morgan – Pot/kettle! Saffron robes do not conceal the face and every city has its eccentric characters and all the better for it. My favourite eccentric during my years in Sydney was a dear old lady dubbed “Bird’s Nest” who used to hang out in Hyde Park and around Elizabeth Street.

There is no relevance between the eccentricities of Australia’s characters and those who hide their faces in public, thus rendering security cameras, identification and the necessity for fluid dialogue among people, impotent.

You may find a warm and friendly man/woman underneath the burqa but who would know and the body language of a burqa wearer issues a grim warning for the would-be friendly citizen to "back off." As a result, the anonymous burqa wearer, bereft of any religious mandate to justify such practice, has the potential to reap what she/he has sown and has already incited unrest in several nations throughout Europe. Are you suggesting that all those nations are racist?

I really don’t know what’s happening to this country as there seems to be a recent spate of wanting to place restriction on what we wear. Be it a burqa or an “offensive” t-shirt during the World Youth Day event.

The real problem is that as a society we overly indulge religion and don’t place religious practices under the same level of moral scrutiny as everything else.

I have no problems with a woman wearing a burqa as long as she wants to and isn’t “obliged” to. As for the ridiculous argument that the wearing of burqas is a security risk then check out this article, “Dumb Rules”
http://www.mocs.com.au/pages/dumb-rules.php

As one of the now probably minority multigenerational Ozie citizens I am continually told I must not do anything that might offend any of our more recently arived population.

That's fine.

However, it should also apply that these new residents should not do anything to offend me.

I am offended by few things, but there a couple. One is that some of our recently arived folk make no effort to learn our language. Law & order is much harder to be applied in a population that most of our police can't talk to.

When I recently required some street directions in Fairfield, Sydney, I could find no one who spoke english. Further, some of those made it clear, by their attitude, that I was not welcome in "their" comunity. This is offensive in the country of my birth, particularly as I lived in Fairfield many years ago, when it was still half bush.

I am offended by the ostentatious display of a lack of respect of the country that has let them in. I am offended by the burqua, & can see no reason why I should be offended in my own country.

I don't know if whese women drive cars in this ridicules garb, but if they do, it would be very dangerous.

If an Ozie womam were to drive a car, go with her hair uncovered, or be caught drinking alcohol in Saudi Arabia, she would find herself in prison, damn quick. She is required to respect their laws, & traditions. About time we reciprocated.

I believe that a few people are misunderstanding the point CJ Morgan was trying to make:

Given the opportunity, people will adopt the mores of the country in which they live. Granted, the burqa is extreme, but so are balaclavas and if this entire debate is based on the probability of criminals adopting burqas in which to conduct crimes, then a big rethink is required. As has been pointed out, there are many easy disguises one can use to hide one's face. For example, panty-hose is easily stored in a pocket and one thing the would-be robber requires is speed and convenience. Anyone ever tried running in flowing robes, while carrying a load of cash or jewellery?

Where I live, I often see the saffron robes of buddhists, there are a number of ashrams in my region, they do not cover the face and no-one even blinks twice. In fact there is also an enigmatic man who dresses like a wizard and makes the most fantastic staffs which he sells in local shops. He used to live in urban Melbourne, near where I did and apparently I have followed him into the ranges. He causes no alarm and I think that the locals are rather happy to see this colourful, bearded and extraordinary man walking around. He will also give healing rituals for the price of a cup of tea - I know I digress but I value the diversity of interesting people.

The full burqa is as impractical as it is fun to deride, however banning them will not achieve anything more than inciting further hatred and resentment. Just because other countries are intolerant (like Saudi Arabia) doesn't mean that Australia has to follow suit. In fact the reason people prefer living here is precisely because we do not practise active, government sanctioned discrimination. Well, with the exception of tax-breaks for religion, which is far more costly to our society than a hapless thief trying to make a quick get-away in voluminous robes.

I agree with Severin and CJ.

The reasons given:

1. as an outward sign of inner faith. In essence, you are telling the world by your religious garb that you are faithful to God and proud of it;
2. as a gesture of modesty before God; and
3. to reflect a belief that the body should be covered because it is lewd and may incite lewd thoughts in others.

However - just to toy with another idea: I liked the author's comment that if men wore it too, it would seem less sexist.

In Western democracies, it is quite the norm for women to look over men and approach or signal to any that they find attractive. From the perspective of some religious leaders, then, those blokes might be said to be inciting lewd thoughts in others. Therefore there is reason to expect (from the same religious perspective that justifies women covering up) men to wear concealing garments.

The whole thing is a storm in a teacup. It will be a miracle if it's seen anywhere in a couple of generations. I can see all sorts of ways that various types of social pressure will send this garment down the same path as nuns' habits.

Btw: I once worked with someone who worked on contract in the ME and she always said she liked wearing a burqa. Tedious pressure from males sounds to have been about the same (she was even spat on at times by random men; so maybe that's par for the course for women in some countries) but she liked that she didn't have to think about what to wear or keeping up with dictates of fashion. Personally I think we can achieve the same without resorting to wearing a burqa, but it was interesting to hear about the experience and POV of a Western woman who'd lived elsewhere for a couple of years.