Tuesday, July 6, 2010

when in rome


this is a tricky one
the burka
secularism
and the issue of religious tolerance
do you have to tolerate the intolerant?
in the name of equality freedom and rational thought may you persecute
the reactionary?
or is this a form of bigotry?

So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.
- Mark Twain, a Biography
We despise all reverences and all the objects of reverence which are outside the pale of our own list of sacred things. And yet, with strange inconsistency, we are shocked when other people despise and defile the things which are holy to us.
- Following the Equator

1 comment:

  1. I say yes, we need this. The function of the burqa is simple; to suppress the sexuality of women. It forces them to interact with the world as objects of desire that have been contained. It stigmatizes their visage, denying them the opportunity to enjoy the greatest freedom we profess to love; the freedom to be oneself.

    Intolerance of suppression is no vice. Tolerance of oppression is no virtue.

    Michael

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