Skeezix
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Why is this a debate? My Muslim friends say the niqab isn't even part of Islam. They wear one by choice.
Because some try to claim it is part of Islam, and it should have protections as if it were.
Wow. It seems that we have a lot of Islamic scholars in Canada who are so knowledgeable that they call tell people whether or not their religious beliefs are accurate or not. In a free country, we somehow have (overwhelmingly Christian and male) people thinking it's okay to tell women what their religion/culture/personal beliefs properly consist of. I thought we were done with this nonsense in the 1980s when non-Sikhs were telling Sikh RCMP officers whether Sikhism required men to wear turbans or not.
All manner of Christian denominations and sects have beliefs which not only conflict with the beliefs of other Christians, yet also are arguably not in the Bible. Yet it would never occur to most people to suggest that Pentecostalism is wrong, and shouldn't be protected, because their Catholic friends have a different view of Christianity. The double standard here is just appalling.
As AoD notes above, it is well established law that the Charter protects sincerely held beliefs under the rubric of freedom of religion. In a free and democratic society like ours, what some white, Christian guy like me thinks about Islam should not be dictating what an Islamic woman chooses to practice and believe.