AIBU to question religious exemptions and equal treatment under UK law?

[faithfultoGeorgeMichael]

I thought carrying a weapon in the UK is illegal - for everyone except a trained police officer or solider?

Why is there a religious exemption for one religion to carry a weapon on our streets "in the name of tolerance"?

Rastafarians are not allowed to smoke cannabis legally, even in their own places of worship and homes. My Rastafarian nephew had to be home schooled. Not only was he not allowed to have dreadlocks, but he not allowed to wear a hair wrap to cover them, as the muslim girls were allowed to cover their hair. Appealing on religious grounds got them no where, they tried for 3 years!

Growing and smoking cannabis only harms yourself (unless you selfishly make others breathe it in), dreadlocks harm no one. Why are these not allowed when some can carry a bladed weapon? In an era when knife crime is disturbingly frequent?!

My view - if it is illegal no one can do it (knives, drugs) if it is legal anyone can (head scarf/dreadlocks)

AIBU to say all religions should be treated equally?

@BraverNewWorld 👏👏

So exactly what is the proposal? A new written constitution? Are you sure? Have you thought this through?
It is not easy to dismantle the entire traditions in our current democracy that easily. Brexit was shit enough.

Thank you. I have been so ignorant and am trying to educate myself on religious exemptions. I wonder if, say, an offshore worker would be able to wear one.

I tend to agree that we should move towards being a secular country.

It is all justifiable until it is not. No, there should not be a religious exemption to carry what is otherwise an offensive weapon. There are probably many other reasoned ways to comply with religious requirements that do not conflict with the law.

@Allisnotlost1 yes, this thread has helped me think things thru, which I appreciate. Chefs obviously carry knives for work! In fact last Wednesday I brought a knife to work to a birthday cake. I had a major brain blip with this but am enjoying seeing everyones views, thank you

The women in our training group were Muslim. They wore headscarves and needed to have covered arms at all times. Obviously like many religions there are varying degrees of how people follow it. Which is why some Muslim women don’t even wear a headscarf and others wear a full burqa. But in my experience most women I come across at work who wear a headscarf also cover their arms at all times.

@JenJenOut - but in theory covering your head in medicine is more hygienic rather than less and the NHS could provide really long gloves for women who wish to cover their arms. They just don’t.

I haven’t come across that, though have been treated by healthcare workers in hijab. Crazy application of the rules.

Glad you’ve found it helpful. Brain blips are a good excuse to ask questions, thanks for being open to others views :)

I'm well aware Digwa is British and I'm not saying you said otherwise, but your argument is part of an exclusionist trope and I think you're well aware of that actually. As for me, I'm about as far from London as you can get without falling off the edge of the country, so that's another poor assumption on your part. Your nephew is entitled to wear his dreadlocks at school. It's pointless, weird and divisive to refuse the protections of the law yourself but then complain when others are unembarrassed to do so. YABU. Deal with it.

And it's Nowak, not Novak. Show some respect.

@ShyGirl32 - I agree with you. It has to come from the Sikh community itself given they also lobbied for the wide exemption in the first place. Obviously the murderer here does not represent what they stand for whatsoever, but much like the Catholic Church, they do have to take responsibility for it. Only with honesty and responsibility comes change.

However, calls from the far left for a secular society and no Church of England. That will just end up in fights with the far right over a first amendment style constitution instead. And I really do not think the majority of the country is up for any of that.

I’m may be wrong but I’m sure you’re allowed to carry a swiss army knife? Fencers can carry swords to and from training etc

What I’m finding interesting is how hotly debated this seems to be when the perpetrator is brown and religious, even though there hasn’t ever been a case of this in the U.K. before and his own community are speaking out against this; yet there are half a million people here with shotgun licenses and there have been lots of murders using these over the years.

Yet our gun laws and desperate need for people to go clay pigeon shooting never seems to be in any way as debated?

The reason is simple because of the leveraging of racism in the complaint and it seems the offender was not approached because of fears of racism.

Shotguns need licenses. They need to be locked away, and they need police approval. You cannot just carry one in public based on a religious status.

Except it’s not their choice is it. Really.

Ok so let’s let everybody carry a knife then…

Yes it is in the UK.

I wasn’t complaining about them covering their head. That doesn’t affect anything. It was the arms that are apparently classed as a serious cross infection risk but doesn’t apply if you say you can’t due to religious reasons. I’m not sure really long gloves would solve it at all. They would need to be removed straight after treatment and their arms would then be on show. Unless you mean they put the gloves over their long sleeves? That would be very difficult as they would be very tight and I imagine when putting on and taking off the gloves it would move their sleeves and I don’t think that would be acceptable.

I have a very sharp letter opener, and a Victorian hat pin.

Women in my family tend to. It is a fabulous allpurpose tool.

…..not really

What? On the street? What do they use it for on the street? Interesting

Food-related things usually. Peeling fruit, slicing bread, prising off bottle tops. Gardening- and flower-related. Sewing fixes, unpicking stitching or cutting loose ends etc. Small bits of DIY.

Never snip flower stems with scissors, cut with a sharp knife if you want them to last...it crushes them less so they do not rot as quickly.

Knives have a feminine aspect.

People should not be allowed to cover their faces in public.
People should not be allowed to carry knives.
People should be allowed to do whatever they want with their hair.

Things that are dangerous should be managed by law. Hair should not.