Slowly but surely, Europe is undergoing a move towards restricting religious freedom for non-Christians. The Danish government and media have focused on the burqa ban to get public consent, but the real issue is how minorities are being treated as second-class citizens. [...]
Here’s how Sukhraj Singh, a Sikh man living in Denmark, describes it: “This proposal also enables the police to define the zones where they have the power to issue double punishments. These will be called ‘special punishment zones’. This policy is inherently unjust. It unequivocally targets and punishes people for simply being born into ethnic minority and low income households.” [...]
Let’s call a spade a spade. The controversy over burqas, burkinis and beards isn’t really about clothing. It’s about the fear that immigrants might retain their non-Christian identities even while living in Western countries. But rather than aid integration, all bans like these do it reinforce the view that minorities are second-class citizens. It will make many feel more criminalised, and alienate them from the justice system and the fellow people they’re supposed to be integrating with. [...]
These bans imply that public expressions of faith are inherently dangerous for a modern secular society. In fact, the opposite is true. Allowing Muslims and Sikhs to be proud of their country gives them the freedom to practice their religion and at the same time see themselves as Danish or French. Restricting them says there is one rule for Christians and another one for everyone else. That is not the hallmark of a secular society.
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