::cough::choke::splutter::wheeze::huh?!

The Background:

Jack Straw, M.P. for Blackburn, Lancashire, finds it very unsettling when faced with constituents who - well, effectively have no faces, because certain visitors to his constituency surgery are shrouded from head to foot, showing only their eyes. If they want this anonymity, why go to the surgery in the first place? Why not 'phone or write? Problem solved.

Mr. Straw asks the shrouded ones to lower their veils, he says, so he can see their faces, but accepts their decision if they refuse. Which seems fair enough. He also has a woman member of staff present to allay any fears of hanky-panky or anything inappropriate happening, and says that his constituents often express relief at his request to lower the veil.

But when he went public about this, the balloon went up at this polite and not unreasonable request.

::cough::choke::splutter::wheeze::

Anyone would think he was asking them to turn up in bikinis, and have a pint of beer and a ham sandwich! He isn't. He just wants an equal chance to see their reactions as they can see his. Or maybe he's a little deaf and needs to lip-read. Anyone thought about that?

The Response:

Many of those protesting about Mr. Straw's 'insensitivity' have probably chosen - of their own free will - to come and live in the U.K. because of its tolerance and freedom. Yet it appears that they are now trying to place restrictions on that very freedom which attracted them here in the first place - and also on the freedom of the native inhabitants.

They seem very quick to take offence, and do so very volubly. They also seem to expect their adopted country to accommodate their way of life. Or else— Fatwa! Jihad! Holy war! The only good non-Muslim is a dead non-Muslim.

I appreciate that this is just a small section of the Muslim community as a whole, giving the rest a bad name, but this attitude offends me greatly. Yet it appears that while hurt Muslim feelings must soothed at whatever the cost, mine do not matter at all. I just have to 'suck it up.'

And in saying I'm offended, I'm probably risking being charged with racism or breaking some nit-picky law or other.

It seems to me we have this completely arse about face. Could someone please point the extremist Muslims at that great British proverb, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do?"

If you choose to make a home for yourself elsewhere than in the country of your birth, then you do your best to fit in; you do your best not to upset the citizens of your host country. Keep your own observances in your own home - and place of worship if you have a particular religion - but otherwise, adopt the conventions of your hosts.

This need not offend against your notions of decorum, but at least making an effort to fit in shows good faith and goes a long way to making friends and letting the others know you respect their ways too. There begins understanding and a little give and take. Respect is not a one-way street. What this insistence on total covering up does is to drive a wedge between the Muslim community and non-Muslims, to the detriment of both. 8-(

Here's a thought. When you go abroad, even just on holiday, try using the local language. It doesn't matter if you're not very good at it. (It'll probably give the native speakers a good laugh at least!) The fact that you've made the effort makes a big difference to the way the host citizens respond to you. 8-)

Bottom Line:

If you choose to live in another country, try to adapt to the life-style of your new home. If you aren't prepared to make at least a small effort to do so, then either move somewhere more in keeping with your own mores or shut the fuck up!
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(I'm what right-wing Americans call 'a wishy-washy pinko liberal,' by the way, just in case you're wondering. In that great British tradition, I'm solidly on the side of the oppressed - the under-dog. These days though, that seems to be us...)

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# posted by Alphekka : 4:39 PM