Is Jack Straw a racist for requesting that women remove their veils?

[magicfarawaytree]

just watching the news. didnt personally think he had done anything terrible in asking.

let's hear it for apathy..anyone?

Out you come, Blu {lowers rope made from knotted bedsheets}

Message withdrawn

Jews did enjoy exemption from a stupid law. That's a simple matter of fact. Moslems, 7th Day adventists, and people with no superstious delusions at all did not get this favour.
Jews who aren't religious got it though.
Does that make any sense, or seem fair ?

As for your snide insinuation that this is anti semitic, that's flatly untrue, and a little bizarre.
My previous post does indeed mention Jews, in terms of Christians persecuting them, hardly bigotry against them is it ?
We are in a thread about racism by the state. Given that Jews as a group have experienced it worse than most, it's hardly suprising that their name came up.
The Jews I know seem to be behind the Moslems over this, since they realise when the state goes down this track, it never ends well.

Maybe, somehow you can twist that view to a perceived hatred of Jews, and that says more about you than me.

lisalisa - dc has doubly got it in for me as I am both a Christian and a West Ham supporter!

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Muslim women who wear the veil are asked to raise it for immigration purposes. They can be dealt with by a female immigration officer and they can go into a separate office to remove their veil if they prefer. Seems like an example of pretty good practice to me.

If you are determined to find antisemitism in my posts, I've no doubt you will succeed, but that doesn't make it true.
For the avoidance of doubt, if this is the post I was thinking of, it was the notion that a really committed Moslem extremist might cause such things. Given that I'm not a Moslem, extremist or otherwise, it is not something I'd like to happen.

What I find sad, is that my view that the state should be truly neutral about religion, ethnicity etc was given to me by a Jew. Actually given that you are such an avid reader of my posts, you will find my post on this site. (hint: Isaac Asimov is a Jewish name)

I do not think that Sharia law necessarily conflicts with British Law. For example, there are Islamic laws of inheritance, which, provided a Muslim person draws up a will, can be followed without any problem.

Also when it comes to marriage, Muslims go through the Registration ceremony at Registry Offices, and then the Islamic ceremony performed by an Imam. Also not in any way a problem.

lisalisa, take no notice of dc. He thinks anyone of faith has a mental illness. He's just showing off.

DC, you've been reading too much Richard Dawkins and have picked up some of his narrow-minded fundamentalism. If you believe that religion is a 'contagious mental illness' then so must your own non-belief be - atheism is a belief system too. You seem to think you can say whayever you like to those of us who believe in God but don't like it when one of us challenges you. Even if you think we believe in rubbish, perhaps you could try respecting the fact that what we do believe matters to us?

Atheism is not a belief system. How ridiculous. It's like saying not believing in dragons is a belief system. Or not believing in fairies is a belief system.

Of course atheism is a belief system (and a minority one at that). And it is possible to be an atheistic bigot.

Is believing in fairies a belief system

No, atheism is not a belief system.

Do you believe in fairies? If not, is that your belief system?

Is Jack Straw a racist?

Do you believe in Fairies?

surreal, I love mumsnet..

still think that religion is a great tool for controlling people, I also think we believe what we want/need to believe...I'm backing away now....

What do you fill in on a census form?

Atheism is a belief in no God. You believe that God does not exist.

And many pagans do believe in fairies (not being flippant, it's true).

Of course religion is used to control people. Belief in God does not mean belief in, or approval of, institutionalised religion.

I think God and fairies can co-exist

I suspect the religion people put on census forms doesn't always reflect their belief, apparently there is quite a congregation of Jedi out there.(allegedly)

If I wasn't a Christian I'd have put Jedi just to piss off the government, but I assume that when people but atheist it is because of what they believe rather than them trying to be clever.

phantom, most pagans don't believe in God.

Yes, but nearlythree, do YOU believe in fairies? If not, do you say, "my belief system is that fairies do not exist"? I also do not believe in dragons. Is that my belief system? I don't believe in lots of things (Reiki, trolls, Aphrodite, Wodin, talking mice, Father Christmas, tree spirits, ghosts under my bed, pixies being just a few) so do I have hundreds of 'belief systems'. You see, not believing in something is just that - not believing. Therefore it is not a belief system.

Actually I put 'none'.

To be very pedantic, I think Humanisim and/or secularism is a belief system, of which athiesm is a necessary part.
But atheism per se is not a belief system - it simply defines that there is NO belief in a god.

Aloha coined the word 'anti-theism' which is arguably a belief system, encompasing such a it does a range of beliefs about religion - and being anyi-religion per se.

Athiests are not necessarily anti-religion or anti religious people or structures - they just don't believe it themselves.

And may, of course, be bigoted. No-one has a monopoly on bigotry

Saadia, an honest question here. Can (is) sharia law ever taken on in a 'limited' form?

So in other words, could parts of sharia be accepted and not others? My understanding (and I'm happy to be corrected if wrong) is that you 'have' to take on the whole lot.

So recognising sinble marriages wouldn't jar with UK law, but Sharia law regonises up to 4 wives (with all the riders etc) and that would break UK law, which outlaws poligamy/

I know that nearly3 I live in Pagan Central (think The Wicker Man )

But as a Christian can I also believe in fairies?