The Fundamental Issue

First I would like to thank everyone who's been emailing me during my break from the blog. I was traveling and working on various other projects, but I'm excited to get back down to business ...

Fast forward video to 2:20.

I must admit that I've watched this clip at least a dozen times. First, a little background: Jack Straw of the British House of Commons recently declared that he will not speak with women who wear burqas because it is a "symbol of intolerance." Interestingly, the burqa for Muslim women has the same intention as a snood for Jewish woman, or a habit for a nun, i.e., because women are so often objectified by men, they dress modestly in order to avoid this objectification. The idea is that all you need to reveal in order to make your point is your hands and your face.

There is no doubt that this has been used to push women off the social strata in some Muslim countries, but to make this generalization about ALL MUSLIM WOMEN IS DISRIMINATION. After all, Jack Straw did not make this rule for Jewish women or Catholic nuns. He singled out Muslim women.

It is sad that 4 educated, albeit white, people could not make this connection between ethnocentrism and discrimination. Bill Maher even asked, "Why come to the West [if you're going to continue to wear your burqa]?" Maybe because Muslim women are under a delusion and still insist on believing that freedom of religious expression means something in the West.

What is even more ironic is that during Bill's New Rules segment, he had the audacity to call for action in Darfur. So let me ask you this Bill Maher:

African Muslims are being killed because they're black. If they find refuge here, who will tell them that they will be discriminated against because they are Muslim??

I am very disappointed with this show of disrespect ... I am a huge Bill Maher fan, but this - to answer Danielle Pletka's question - is where you draw the line.