Of course I realize this. I'm not unintellingent, nor am I ill-informed. I'm also aware that Canadian women who convert to Islam choose to wear bags over their heads.
But it's the symbolic aspect of the question that concerns me ... and the hard reality behind the symbolism. It's more than a question of not being able to see someone who may be testifying against you. There is a wider issue, probably a whole bunch of issues. Let's take my country, for example ... and we got many of our ideas on how society should work from you guys. And we run our country, in general, by the same written and unwritten rules as you do.
(As an aside, here is a list of current Canadian first ministers:
List of current Canadian first ministers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Notice anything?)
But, back to it. We have major problems over here. First Nations folks are, in general, poorer, less well-educated, over represented in our jails, more prone to suicide .... well, you get the picture ... than the rest of us. But we are dealing with the problem. Not as quickly as some of us would like, but the debate is ongoing. Too many kids in Canada go hungry. We have too many seniors at the poverty line. Homophobia. Anti-semitism. Lotsa problems. But they are out in the open. We talk about them. Things are getting done. But as soon as we start to raise questions about the status of muslim women, about honour killings, about face-covering in courts, what happens? Oh no, cry the mullahs and the radicalized muslims, you can't discuss this. You are rascists. You are Islamaphobes. ("You can't discuss this" seems to be a common response from many in the muslim communities ... so much for free speech, eh.)
Bottom line, for me anyway, is that the bag over the head thingy is an offence to everything Canadians believe in. Well, maybe not hockey
It belongs in Canada as much as a statue of Himmler belongs in Tel Aviv. It's not just the court thingy ... it's everything about face covering that is wrong. And it's not only wrong here and in the land of uk; it's wrong anywhere. It's wrong in Afghanistan: the worst place in the world to be a woman, in spite of the blood and the bucks that we poured into that place in order to change things. It's wrong in Pakistan: the third worst place in the world to be a woman. It's wrong anywhere. It belongs in the dustbin of history along with the swastika and the creepy KKK outfit.