I am an atheist and I do not care at all for any religious but I have some problems with burga.
1. When a man search for a girlfriend or wife he has no chance for a muslim girl because he can not see her face, her eyes!
May be under the burga is a young or old girl , may be is beautifull or ugly. With the burga the muslim girls can married ONLY persons from their closed environment. WHY?
2. Humans comunicate more than 60% with their body, body language, and less with words. How can I be sure that a muslim woman mean what she says when I can not see her face, her reaction, when I can not "read" her thoughts? The burga not only block us to comunicate with them but makes Muslim women less credible as we can not receive their body messeges.
3. I do not say Muslim women are not so good as non Muslim women but when I see a Muslim women with burga my mind goes direct to bad thoughts, may be under the burga is a criminal, a thief etc. I do not have anything against Muslim women but under the burga could be hiden some risks!.
4. Is it fair sir for a nice, lovely, beautifull Muslim girl to cover her face with burga and every time I see her on the road to thing that may be she is an old woman, may be she is an ugly girl! Is not beter for her every one to see her beautiful face and the men to run back of her? How the lovely beautifull muslim girl can find a friend when she covers her face?
I DO NOT SPEAK FOR RELIGIOUS THINGS, THE BURGA CREATES HUGE PROBLEMS TO MUSLIM GIRLS, DAMAGE SERIOUSLY THEIR INTERESTS.
For me the question is not burga or not but how to encourage Muslim girls-women to stop using them.
Most Muslim Girls do not wear burga, in some Muslim countries they do not put anything on their head.
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaide

My problem with the burqua and its relatives is that it is a symbol of submission to the silly fundamentalist notion that only the men of the family can see a woman's hair and that the sight of female hair is so inflammatory that other men could not be expected to control their behaviour if they saw it. This feeds in to the notion that non-Muslim women with uncovered hair are inferior, fair game, and in Sheik Hillali's memorable words,'uncovered meat'.

If covering the head was a universal and long-standing tradition, how do you explain the current fashion for it in Egypt, where twenty years ago most went bare-headed? I'm sure Egyptian Muslim women are no more devout now than they used to be, but perhaps they are more scared of the fundamentalists. I don't mind if Muslim women wish to cover up in accordance with current predominant Islamic practice, but not to the extent where it compromises security, health or safety.

Nursel; <France and other Western countries should also provide Afghan women with scholarships to study>

What about the Afghan men (whom I witnessed on one documentary on TV) saying they wanted to kill girls and women for going to school . There’s only so much the West can do in these countries when the male leaders have these mindsets.

As for the Burqa. If people in the West don’t like it, well why would they? after the attack on the twin towers and being threatened by men in similar such attire(Osama Bin Laden) Prince of Saudi Arabia in our own lounge rooms. Not to mention the killing of 200 of our people in Bali by people of this fundamentalist religion joining ranks with Bin Laden in his Jihad. There was a time when I was growing up where women never went to Christian churches or weddings etc without their heads covered, we wore feminine hats. It was expected that you would cover your head. In their sensible way Westeners questioned the need for it and it died out.

We in the West have only said no in the last 60 or70 years to the last of some of the unrealistic authoritarian rules imposed on us by our own church leaders in the centuries past and we have no wish to go back to any kind of authoritarian rule be it church,dictator,king, queen or otherwise, we’ve already fought those battles. That’s why we have an instinctive dislike of any thing that looks like imposed authoritarianism . To our freedom loving eyes the Burqa looks just like that whether the muslim women see it that way or not.

Sharkfin - you don't have to be in Afghanistan to hear threats of death or violence made against girls or women by fundamentalist Muslim men - usually in relation to some 'behaviour' that this twisted culture objects to. It may be about her dress, aspirations, associates or her objection to something her father, husband, brother or whichever 'senior male' dominates her life has dictated.

I have seen and heard it first hand here in Australia. While some will say there are plenty of 'Aussie' men who are controlling and abusive, our society condemns those behaviors and certainly rejects them as the cultural norm.

For a small but significent percentage of Australian Muslim women, complete domination is their cultural norm.

Do we accept this as part of our wonderful multi-cultural society or do we reject it as being both inappropriate and illegal?

Whilst not confined to Muslim sub-cultures, it is the cultural norm for some to practice 'female circumcision'. Also to forcibly betroth and marry off underage girls. Acceptable? Legal?

Most Muslims I know are decent,law abiding, polite, productive members of our society. Freedom to practise their religion is non-negotiable.

Freedom to pursue insidious cultural practices left over from some latterday stone-age which clash with both Australian Law and our societal values under bogus justification of 'religious belief' is completely WRONG. Even more wrong when politicians and others try to gloss it over as examples of multiculturalism.

The burqa stands out because it is a public symbol of those things most Australians with fair minds and concern for our Nation abhor. In any case, chances are the wearer is not thus attired by choice but by duress.

I've stated a number of times - Come to Australia and enjoy the freedom, prosperity and opportunities this great country offers. Carry on the best of your old culture but understand that if there are aspects that clash with Australian law and culture - be prepared to leave those behind. SIMPLE!

blairbar: << Do you support the right of descendants of some of your ancestors to dress as some of your ancestors did, namely naked? >>

Hi Blair,

Sure, why not if that's what they want to do - although it's illegal in most public places in Australia. I think most people are way too hung up about the human body anyway - particularly religious nutters, e.g. Muslim and Christian fundies.

Nudity could be a bit of a problem for some occupations too...

Regardez :)

"although it's illegal in most public places in Australia"
Dear CJ
My point entirely. We have enacted laws in Australia which forbid public displays of adult nudity. In parts of Papua new Guinea it is not against the law to have public displays of adult nudity.
We legislate what people can and cannot wear; such legislation reflects the underlying cultural values of the majority of Australian citizens.
Banning public wearing of the burqa or niqab would simply be in keeping with the underlying cultural values of most Australians.
As divine_msn said:
"Here in MY Country:
"#Criminals cover their faces to conceal their identity.
#OUR Culture dictates that we communicate 'face to face'"
End of story.
Regards
Blair