Letters to the Editor
-
Defending liberalism against leftist apologetics
Isn't the conclusion that the hijab is primarily voluntary essentially forgone with leftists who want to justify inaction? It is after all the position which conveniently justifies passivity much like moral relativism and the notion of 'respect' do for multiculturalism in general.
Whether it is years of indoctrination or force, wouldn't traditional liberal values demand some form of reasonable intervention, especially with Muslim communities in the West which are subject to secular laws? At the very least couldn't we have the courage to say that there is nothing wrong with abandoning cultural and religious traditions and we will support you if you do?
France and its admirable laïcité policy banning religious symbols in primary schools comes to mind, which of course had Anglo-American multiculturalists trashing in paroxysms of rage about religious freedom (ignoring as always the children's right to be free from their parents' religion, which thankfully the key French teachers' union recognised).
The anonymous poster who identified as a teacher in Europe and discussed the compulsion behind the hijab from first hand experience is the person we should be listening to, not Tracey Clark-Flory with her pre-scripted leftist orthodoxy. I mean was anyone anywhere surprised by her 'nuanced' conclusions?. And here I always thought was feminism supposed to be about uncompromising support of egalitarianism?