>> Should the government ban the use of burkhas and other garments etc
>> which cover the face and so avoid recognition? Surely it would make
>> sense to outlaw the wearing of any garment or helmet which makes the
>> wearer unrecognisable.
>
> Along the same lines it would "make sense" to have everyone's ID barcoded
> onto their forehead. Just depends how much freedom & privacy we're
> prepared to sacrifice (speaking personally, not another inch).
I'm not aware of any concept of privacy that expects, requires or advises
that you keep your face covered at all times. Quite simply, this is not a
privacy issue.
This is about personal values being incompatible with social compliance.
On the one hand, I've no particular interest in seeing the face of someone
who goes about their business and whose path doesn't cross mine. Just this
morning I saw two women (I assume they were women anyway!) dressed head to
toe in black, with only their eyes visible. To a degree they looked out of
place on the busy high street, but I couldn't care less.
On the other hand, there are clearly situations where the face has to be
visible. When, as the original poster stated, covering the face is "to
avoid recognition", that is clearly incompatible with situations where
recognition is essential. I wouldn't expect a bank to allow a cash
withdrawal if they couldn't see the person's face. I wouldn't expect any
institution carrying out basic security measures as to the identity of
persons on their premises to waive the requirement of seeing that person's
face.
Any person who follows specific beliefs, and covers their face accordingly,
disadvantages themselves in several situations. That they choose to
disadvantage themselves is up to them, and in that respect we can no more
force them to reveal their faces than we can force anyone else to walk
around in short sleeves instead of long sleeves.
However, there is no such thing as absolute freedom. Personal freedom
extends to the point at which it impacts on others, and where that line is
crossed then anyone who does cover their face has to either reasonably
adjust or accept the consequences.
With regard to the religious aspect, this IS an oversimplification, but
essentially Islam requires modesty. It doesn't stipulate that the face must
be covered. For that reason, I think that it would not be inconsistent with
a person's religious beliefs to impose such a ban. Essentially, covering
the face is voluntary, and unless you can categorically state that a
religion requires you to do something then there is no compelling argument
against imposing social rules within the framework of the law, even if those
rules mean that you cannot do all you desire to do, including covering your
face.
That, after all, is one of the fundamentals aspects of law - it imposes
restrictions on personal freedoms for the greater good. The position
*might* be different if a religious law squarely opposes state law. That
does not mean that one should simply be able to escape state law on the
grounds of religious belief, but it does mean that much more detailed
consideration must be given to the imposition of such state law if it cannot
be reconciled with religious law.
Personally, I think that fully covering the face is a step too far, but if
you want to cover the whole of the rest of your body I can see no reason why
that should cause problems.
Tanel.
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