French MPs vote to ban Islamic full veil in public

[Deckard]

One of those hot issues that seems to wind everyone up.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/10611398.stm

I hate the full veil (I look dreadful in it) but I'm not sure I support it being banned. If it's going to be, then I think it should be banned along with other clothing that, depending on the ultimate reason, fall under the same criteria.

For instance, if the issue is one of security and of the need to see people's faces in public buildings (a not unreasonable one, I think), then ban anything that covers the face in those instances - low-hanging hoodies, balaclavas, Jedi masks, whatever. Or better still, just have the rule that 'faces should not be covered in public buildings'.

If it's about emphasizing the secular nature of the state, then I'm inclined to think the government should royally feck off! The point being, secularism and enforced irreligiosity are not the same thing. Yes I roll my eyes when I see women wandering around Cardiff in their niqabs and hijabs, and silently despair at how silly people are still clinging to all that nonsense in the 21st century - but secularism should surely be about people being free to express, within reasonable limits, their religious views in any way they choose; not about removing the insignia of religion (or religion-based culture) and attempting to make everyone - at least on the surface - non-religious.

Which leaves us with the big one, women's rights, and the notion of the niqab and burka as the most visible symbol of a certain view of women pervasive in much of Islamic culture. And the question is, what do you do when many of the women themselves insist that they are not oppressed and that it's their right to cover their head/face? I'm truly not sure which is worse: the government stepping in and telling women what (not) to wear, or letting it continue.

Maybe it shouldn't be banned but just needs to be challenged more vigorously.

But how, and by whom?

Thoughts?