Sarkozy says Muslim burqas are 'not welcome' in France

they are forced or brainwashed to wear the burqa.
that's why it can "create tensions".

France can never get out of its own way. In the end they can do what ever they like. Just stay on your side of the pond.

Can someone point me to a piece of scripture in the Qur'an where it states that Muslim women must wear the Burqa?

I know that's a bit of a tangent here but it'll be easier for me to discuss the issue if I knew whether the garment was a product of religion or cultural norms.

I agree with banning the burqa. When in Rome do as the Romans do.

I lived in Saudi Arabia and was prohibited from practicing my religion.......................not too distressing not to have to get up for mass in the morning I hasten to add. Given the fact that they did not recognize our right to practice our religion I often feel that we are far too tolerant.

If you must wear a burqa then go home and wear it at home.
It breaches security.....if a man wants to kill someone he can don a burqa and not be recorded on camera........if he wants to rob a bank, wear a burqa.

Ban the Burqa.

Ban multiple marriages too.

If these men want to shakle their women then please do not allow our governments be party to it. Men who want women to wear the burqa must leave our free countries and go live in a country where the system is in place.

Bravo Sarkozy.

I don't muzzle my dog.....why should I agree to let a man muzzle his wife?

The burqa has more to do with cultural norms, rather than religion. A lot of Muslim women simply wear some sort of headscarf. Some don't even have any sort of hijab.

Same as FGM (female genitial mutilation). It's not a Muslim practice - it's a cultural practice in some African places, and some parts of Saudi Arabia.

Everything about Islam is backwards, just read the Q'uran you'll see for yourself.

I think the real reason governments want to ban burqas is that they want to be able to see peoples faces. It would be nice to walk around with complete anonymity.

Now I am not disputing any of the other points made here as far as misogynistic brain washing and control etc... I just try to look a government in the most simplistic terms as I have seen that most of the time government motives are simple and the explanation is complicated and meant to cover the truth.

I worked in a party store when I was young and I can tell you that people coming in with their faces completely hidden would have made me very nervous.

As much as I don't understand those burqa's and think it disgusting, i still feel like women should be allowed to wear them if they want to.

Damn frogs.

no letter box ladies in france

hehe, thats almost horrible of me to say and laugh at... but come on... the burqa is about as muslim as a hotdog,

yummy nasty hotdogs.... so bad for your but they taste good when at a baseball game....

Dare I say it.... But I think France has more balls than the US.

America is so over-the-top politically correct. It makes me ill.

Hats off to Sarkozy!!!!

I think a study of Muslim women who wear burqas would be necessary before making legislation that would ban them. I don't fully understand Islamic religion or customs, but if women choose to wear burqas and are not forced, passing a ban on burqas will not be met with extended applause from everyone, and could easily be seen as a restriction of religion and customs. Sarkozy seems to have entered into an argument between freedom for women and freedom of religion.

I used to misunderstand the practice. I find it stifling, but women may also choose the garment and call it liberatiing. I am not so judgeental to remove the freedom of choice from them.

France is not engratiating itself to the arab world, or the democratic world. France is not free. You may not even wear a rosary in public in France. Either you have the freedom of religous practice or you don't.

That being said, the Burqua is also a tool of supression. In the end the Burqua may simply be irreconcilable in a modern transparent society that holds women and men with equanimity as it makes too wide a distinction and carries negative connotations.

I always thought the idea of hiding women behind veils was at best odd, but it's wrong for a government to restrict freedom to worship or to adhere to one's culture. Whether or not it is oppressive to women is another question altogether.

Hey france!

fuck you!

well now they are just going to have to wear ninja masks

PS to fall for a queen all I need to see is her eyes

I just had this argument with my mom. She tells me that every time she sees a woman in a burqa, she wants to rip it off them and tell them they don't have to wear it.

But Ma, I say, this is America. In middle eastern countries women may be forced to wear these full body outfits and yes, it is a practice that is debasing women...but in America and many other countries, the women wearing these burqas are highly intelligent women who chose to do it. Why should we assume every time we see a head scarf that the woman wearing it is oppressed and it's our job to help her?

I think everyone knows how I feel about religious requirements but it comes down to choice. In America we have the freedom to practice your religion freely (with reason of course) and I wouldn't trade that in over a burqa as France seems to have done.

I don't think it's a "black or white" issue...
Here in the USA, we clearly protect freedom of expression, and the burqa falls under that protection. I'd rather have a few Muslims wear their garb than to "throw the baby out with the bathwater", undermine the First Amendment, just so we "feel comfortable". What's next? Telling immigrants they can't put the flags of their homelands on their cars?

Our Nazarenes don't cut their hair and other sects wear 18th or 19th century garb, are we going to tell them what is acceptable?

No. What I think what is particularly fascinating is that, while Liberals often cite the Europeans as a model worthy of American judicial and legislative study, not to mention Healthcare (I mention it anyway), we see that even the excessively liberal France has a slightly totalitarian bent, regarding its Muslims.

In other words, can we not agree that this is yet another example of American exceptionalism? Can we not celebrate again that America, despite all the propaganda about how we're a bunch of "Islamophobes", are nevertheless more tolerant than the "more enlightened Europeans"?!

Good work Sarkozy! Who would have thought the world leader with the biggest balls would be from France? Hey France, wanna trade for Barack? We'll even through in Biden for laughs.

a burqua had become symbol of a culture that is very oppresive towards women..

I think there are several areas in the U.S. that bans covering your face in public, it dates back to KKK days. that's one way they fought the Klan, by bringing them out in the open.
Highroller brought up a good point, many muslim believe in multiple wives, are western countries supposed to allow that too? Where do you draw the line?