Do It My Way Or Not At All –Is That Religious Tolerance? 1
20th Apr 2009
Hello lovely people
There are times when I feel like laughing about the growing religious intolerance in the UK, but this is too serious a matter to laugh about. If you think that there is no religious intolerance in this part of the world, just read the newspapers.
The latest incident is about a Muslim woman who was not allowed to attend a parent’s evening at her son’s Catholic school because she was wearing a full-face niqab veil.
The school rules required the removal of crash helmets, hoodies and full-face veils. The initial rule was amended to include full-face veils, because the school was aware that the woman was a parent and they wanted to prevent incidents such as these after the first incident two years ago with the same woman.
The woman was aware of the amended rule but decided to wear a full-face veil anyway.
Who was right and who was wrong here? Let us take a step back and ask different questions.
What did the woman want to achieve by wearing the full-face veil when she knew that the school would object? On the surface she wanted to simply discuss the progress of her child with the teachers, and it should not have mattered how she was dressed when this was her objective.
However, at the same time the woman probably wanted people to notice her veil and the flaunting of the school rules. For what purpose? Because she believed that wearing a full-face veil was an expression of her dedication? Because she wanted to confirm that there is freedom of religion and freedom of self-expression, or because she wanted to challenge the lack of freedom in that particular environment? Or maybe because her aim was simply to get people to respect her beliefs rather than challenge them?
Let us look at the other side of the situation. Why did the school insist on people showing their faces? If they were concerned about a security threat, surely a solution would have been to allow people to show their faces, give them security clearance and then give them access to the areas that they needed to visit? Was the aim of the school authorities also to get people to respect their beliefs rather than challenge them?
Either way, it is quite possible that both sides wanted to get their way at all costs, and of course conflict would be inevitable.
If it is so important for these parties to preserve their own identities, then both parties are equally guilty in this situation.
To be continued.
Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.
Love and Light
Elsabe
