Banning the Burqa?

[Jinkies]

I'm not really seeing the "it's just an article of clothing" argument here. The burqa is a tool of oppression. I admit that it's only a small part of a much larger disease, but I still thinking banning the burqa would be a positive. Any step away from a culture that denigrates and systematically oppresses women is a good step.

No, the burqa is not a tool of oppression. It can be used as such, but if you actually look at the history of it, you will see that it is never intended to be oppressive in the Islamic faith.

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that we live in the past here. Guess I better break out the history books to know what the weather will be like today!

Joking aside, I could give a shit about its origins. I care about how it's used today. It's used to oppress women right now. That's what counts, not history lessons.

This argument also fails (as I noted above) when you consider the number of Islamic women who choose to wear the burqa.

Plenty of women also choose to stay with a man who beats them. Plenty of people choose to smoke crack. I don't see how some number of people making what I consider a poor choice makes my argument fail. Could you clarify how it does?

I saw an argument upthread about how customs and religion should be respected. Honor killings fit into both of those categories, and I'm pretty sure very few people here respect those. I have no respect for customs and religion except where they provide a solid argument as to why they are worthwhile. (Since people always tend to completely miss the point of things like this, I'm only pointing out faulty logic, not saying that the burqa is as bad as honor killings.)

The only faulty logic is your own. If you read my actual arguments, rather than making a strawman out of them, you'll see that I made exceptions for customs and religious acts that violated another's freedom against their will. To clarify in lieu of your example: honor killings should only be tolerated if the person being killed agrees to it. They have a right to life, but only they have the right to choose how and when to end it.

You made a declarative statement. I'll repost the posts of yours that I could find on the subject of respecting customs and relgion. I may have missed another post of yours on this subject, though, so feel free to let me know if I did (your initial claim will still be imbecilic, though):

Yes, when needed then of course face coverings should be removed, but customs and religions should be respected.

Your customs should be respected, just as anyone's should be. Obviously there are exceptions, there always are, but for the most part, people's customs are their own, and shouldn't have to be torn apart. Your attitude of "tolerance yes, respect no" doesn't conform with your final demand that the religious can "go take a hike" if their clothing is banned. That isn't at all tolerant.

Please let me know how I manufactured a straw man argument here. I'm fucking dying to know. You made a moronic statement and I called you on it. Calling you on your bullshit is not a straw man argument. I can link you to the Wikipedia article on straw man arguments if it'll help you educate yourself, though.

Customs are just things people do. The fact that something is a custom gives you absolutely no hint as to whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. When you say customs should be respected, you're stating that we should respect things people do purely because people do them. It's ridiculous, and a statement like that has no business coming from one who presumes to be logical and rational. We should weigh people customs using logic and reason, then decide which customs are worthy of respect. If you simply respect everything, your respect is worthless.