Help me with my oral topic: burqa issue

[sanam]

Hi Guys im doing the issue of whether or not the burqa (muslim attire) should be banned.
My contention that it should NOT be banned and i was struggling to find 3-4 main arguments to support my contention. Any ideas guys?

[chrisjb]

Off the top of my head:

1. freedom of expression
2. Freedom of religion
3. Nanny State
4. Verry rarely has it ever been used maliciously (to rob banks etc.)
5. Community support is against the ban (I assume- and even if they're not then you can still use that argument)

Read up on some of the comentry from the papers from where the issue was being talked about and you'll find heaps i'm sure.

[eeps]

Freedom of religion? It's a heavily-debated issue and banning the burqa would be hard to pass in parliament; since it may not be acceptable to the majority of people/the community. Australia is a multi-cultural society and is accepting of all people regardless of their background/where one comes from. We talked about this issue in Legal Studies last year. You could try to find arguments from that perspective.

[iNerd]

I believe in morality, which is doing right regardless of what I'm told, and not in religion, which is doing what I am told regardless of what is right.

That's from ninwa's signature. I just found it somewhat interesting and relevant

[chrisjb]

That may be accurate of a cult but it's certainly not accurate of religion in general. You should be weary of such over simplifications, grasshopper.

/religious debate

back to your speech sanam, if you're ever super short of ideas for arguments then try looking at a strong rebuttal of what the other side thinks. Unfortunatley I can't think of a good one right now (possibly because I can't think of why anyone would support the law:P).

[Tobias Funke]

Well most people are seeking to ban the burqa believing it exemplifies a very misogynistic aspect of the religion, failing to realise it is something the women can optionally choose to wear

[sanam]

That may be accurate of a cult but it's certainly not accurate of religion in general. You should be weary of such over simplifications, grasshopper.

/religious debate

back to your speech sanam, if you're ever super short of ideas for arguments then try looking at a strong rebuttal of what the other side thinks. Unfortunatley I can't think of a good one right now (possibly because I can't think of why anyone would support the law:P).

Well one of the main reasons that they want to ban it is because of security threats. A man robbed a bank wearing a Burqa and also about the whole oppression of women by muslim men thing, which is was AndyLedHead pointed out.

[LOVEPHYSICS]

If you browse through SBS Insight's previous videos online, I believe that they have covered the burqa issue recently. Can be very  helpful IMO, because you get both sides covered. And also, they have experts and intellects on the show, so the stuff there are pretty damn good.

I did Legal Studies 2 years ago, and as you can see, I didn't do great at it, but wasn't there something in the constitution about religion on Section 116? If my memory is still half decent, I think it is supposed to protect the free-practice of religion. And from what I remember, amending the Constitution is extremely difficult, referendums and so on.

Good Luck.

[riv]

The issue is debated on the following site:

http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Ban_on_Muslim_burqa_and_niqab

[slothpomba]

I've studied Islam in great detail and one of my good friends is a Muslim so i think ill throw in my 2 cents.

It's actually not required in the quran, the quaran only requires covering up for modesty (chest ect), so they're not really being forced to wear it so on that grounds, banning it isn't going to help anyone. Also note some sects of Islam (The Quranists are especially noted for this) do not wear the burqa at all.

Also, i'm pretty sure the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates freedom to practice ones religion is an intrinsic right which shouldn't be revoked. I'm pretty sure Australia is also a signatory to it. While the burqa and things like that are more culture which have been intertwined with Islam, you could still spin it as being part of the religion. (I'm not sure if that constitutes a shoddy argument i did English language and learned about propaganda haha so spin is all me)

Also, how hard would it be to enforce such a ban, I'm sure plenty of women would go on wearing it anyway out of choice/tradition or maybe being forced on the odd occasion. Would the police run over to every woman covered in a burqa and promptly serve her a fine? Does that really give off a good look, well depends who you ask i guess.

A lot of people also only want the burqa ban because they are xenophobic or afraid of Muslims because of what the media has spun them or they want to maintain their idea of the racial integrity of Australia and Australian culture. These guys are examples of that kind of xenophobic idiocy. All you need to do is talk to one Muslim to realise they're average people just like us.

Also, they claim it will protect women or help them if they're being forced to wear it but if they're being forced, the men will just keep them at home. Since its the men who in this situation who are forcing them and don't want them to be seen without it, putting this ban in place will just simply make them force the woman to be indoors/always inside the house. That definitely isn't empowering the woman in that situation.

Interested to know how your debate goes/ the final points you chose.