Banning Muslim headscarves

[Sbane]

17% of Pakistanis want to ban headscarves? I wouldn't have expected that.

[Sbane]

No, it shouldn't be banned.

However, forcing somebody to wear one should be illegal.  If someone wants to wear a headscarf, it should be of their own accord.

But how would you know if a woman was being forced to wear it by her husband or father?

[Sbane]

France

The government banned headscarves in public schools in 2004. Most people have come around to either accept it or strongly support it.

Euh, there is still in France some strong support and some strong defense of the way we practice the secularity. That's why each headscarve case has been sensitive here.

Can Sikhs wear turbans in France?

[Sbane]

No, it shouldn't be banned.

However, forcing somebody to wear one should be illegal.  If someone wants to wear a headscarf, it should be of their own accord.

But how would you know if a woman was being forced to wear it by her husband or father?

You probably wouldn't know.  But if it came to light that she was being forced against her will, then the husband should be fined.

Freedom of religion is an individual right, not a right to control others.  There isn't a non-intrusive way to ensure that it doesn't happen, but we can deter it.

How can we know anything? If you see a girl in a short skirt how do you know her boyfriend doesn't make her wear it? Or if she has a long skirt how do you know her dad isn't making her wear that? Those are prices we pay for a free society.

Your argument is completely contradictory.  You claim that by allowing headscarves, it creates a more free society, and yet you would allow the suppression of a woman's religious freedom at the hand of her father or husband as a "price to pay" for a free society?

How about we empower the woman by ensuring, as best we can, that the choice to wear a headscarf is ultimately her choice and her choice alone?

How can a society be free if you can't even count on the government to protect your freedom or to back you up when you are threatened by people who claim authority over you under the guise of religious tradition?

Where did I say that I "would allow the suppression of a woman's religious freedom at the hand of her father or husband as a "price to pay" for a free society"?

However, I was pointing out, more in response to Sbane than to you, that we wouldn't be able to enforce this very effectively by legal means. People are commonly abused in families in various ways. This is hard for society to prevent. Thus, its existence is a price we pay for a free society. I mean this in a very general way. Think of all relationships where one partner abuses the other. Or parents who mistreat their kids or the other way around. This is unacceptable in one sense, of course, but it is hard to combat effectively without allowing far-reaching state intrusion in peoples' private lives.

Mostly agree with you here. But I do think the incidences of a muslim man forcing his wife and daughters to wear a hijab or niqab are much higher than incidences of domestic violence/child abuse, even in the west. I don't think the solution is to ban the hijab but rather make it easier for women to lodge complaints and make it easier for authorities to deal with it. There are certainly millions of women out there who wear this voluntarily( and its not like there is much wrong with the hijab anyways) and we shouldn't take away their right to wear what they want.