[Livia]

Originally Posted by MTVN

Yes that reply was just a general comment on the whole "we have to cover up in their countries" argument that is often used as opposed to a specific response to your post

This is a secular country in all but name. Sure by law, the Queen is head of the CoE and we're a Christian nation but very few in this country hold a firm belief in God and Christianity is on the decline while Islam is on the rise. I am indeed well aware of the Queen's status so no need to be so patronising there.

Why is the burkha "different"? You didnt really give a reason there, you just stated that it was. The burkha is surely just an extension of the hijab, they are both intended to protect the Muslim womans modesty.

If there is a British Muslim woman and she considers the burkha crucial to her relgious beliefs then I feel she has every right to wear one, and I'd hope that she would be allowed to in a country that preaches civil liberties and freedom of religion, instead of being forced away to a fundamentalist and repressive country like Saudi.

It annoys me how people always say "they shouldnt have come here in the first place" and "we respet their culture" or something along those lines when more often or not your average Muslim in this country is just as British as you or I.

As British as you, perhaps. What annoys ME is that you're assuming that I'm a white Anglo-Saxon protestant because I disagree with the Burkha. I've said over and over that I support people's religious freedom. You make me sound like a member of the BNP.

I am a Jew whose family (mostly) came to this country as refugees following release from the death camps after WW2. I have family living who are tattooed with their concentration camp numbers. You cannot equate Germany's ban on the burkha to their previous history which is what you tried to do in your original post by saying that Germany especially should be aware of their past. I am paraphrasing, obviously.

I never said they shouldn't come here in the first place. I am hardly in a position to say that. I have (generally) found this country has treated my family and our religious beliefs with respect and in return my family respected the culture and traditions of the UK. In a country so accepting of other cultures, it surprises me that people accuse this country of being unaccepting because they disagree with the burkha.

Anyway, we clearly disagree on this. And that's fine.