The hijab and/or niqab should be banned

Thanks Con! Rule Violation I'm flattered by my opponents compliments, I like him too. However, I clearly stated in the earlier round that I didn't add to the argument. I simply had some questions for my opponent. Questions in which he would have had to answer regardless in his rebuttals. Either way, up to you voters. If you've found I've violated conduct, please feel free to give them to my opponent. However, I contend that I didn't. In substance of my argument, they were never anything new. What would have been new is if I had rebuttal last round with “at least the hijab would still be legal within our framework”, an argument that I missed in the first round and have not brought up (just as an example though). Rebuttals: Voters please remember as per the rules here, I am not allowed to rebuttal, but simply defend my contentions with a conclusion. D1: Niqab Promotes Sexualization Recall what sexualization is: 1) to be sexually aware, or 2) sexual associations Source: http://www.collinsdictionary.com... The fact is, the Qu'ran does demand looking modest in front of other Muslim men by wearing a cover. In the Quran its self it clearly states it alone. Source: [Qur'an 24:30]. The text does not leave any room for interpretation, at all. This is sexualization in its purest form, the epitome of it. Again, it is the claim that Men are horn-dogs wanting to sleep with every woman, and that women to men are objects of desire. Regardless of if this is true or not, this is sexualization. And it has some nasty adverse consequences as I have pointed out earlier. Even worse, its admitted by several followers with their own blogs on the question. It is done to try and prevent sexual contact, wanted or unwanted in any capacity. It is to look pure, and untempting, even by the texts own concepts and admissions. The epitome of sexualization. Sources: http://www.islamicinsights.com..., http://www.al-islam.org... https://en.wikipedia.org..., https://en.wikipedia.org... What also becomes tricky here is cultural relativism as I have pointed out before. Some Muslim women will claim it is a choice, but really, it isn't. It is the illusion of choice, and the choice not to wear it is almost followed with coercion as I have pointed out before. The APA has produced ample reports showing the adverse consequences of Sexualization. And because the Islamic texts admit to sexualizing women in the first place, these are the simpel repercussions of it. Source: http://www.apa.org... D2: Generally Cool with Muslims I fail to see why Muslims would oppose banning via government policies. As I have pointed out earlier in this debate, France and Turkey have banned it. They seem to be doing fine. Furthermore, Muslims are not allowed to wear it in Mecca. Islamic law does not allow it. If these are acceptable exceptions to having the veil removed, then I do not see why the government shouldn't feel as though they can ban the Niqab and not infringe on Islamic beliefs. Clearly, their own religious beliefs permit not wearing it in special circumstances. I think governments banning it would constitute a special circumstance, and one in which Turkey has outwardly done. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org..., https://en.wikipedia.org..., https://en.wikipedia.org... D3: Public Policy is not Always Rational The fact of the matter is, sometimes a policy is carried out because of its symbolism rather than genuine impacts. Or as it is called in public policy: value rationality. The values that a Western Democracy has is equality. It is improtant to remember on that basis, that it isn't men wearing the Niqab, but only women. If that is the case, this is clearly not equality, something that we value here. On that basis, even if the ban were to have adverse consequences (which I maintain it would not), that alone would be enough to justify a ban on the Niqab. Now, we could have a debate on this framework as being a good one for policy evaluation or not, but that is beyond the scope of this debate. The only thing that matters here, is that the Niqab is not in line with Western Democratic values. And if laws and policies are to reaffirm eqality of both sexes, the Niqab ban is needed, for the Niqab in its very essence stands opposite to it. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org... http://fordschool.umich.edu... D4: Illusion of Choice There is in fact clear pressure to wear the niqab anyways, despite it actually not being obligatory if the law were to prevent it. It is improtant to remember that women pulling the choice card are simply adhereing to cultural relativism rather than having a genuine choice free from coercion to wear the Niqab in the first place. In one case, a husband actually threatened to divorce his wife over not wearing the niqab alone. Divorce in Islam heavily favours the men, so this is a huge type of economic coercion, and uses psychological threats to leverage his position in an unfair manner. Source: http://islamqa.info...... Clearly, some women have no choice, which is why the law banning it makes more sense. At least that way no one is forced to wear it, and furthermore the practices of Islam are not in trouble for failing to wear it, because the choice was beyond theirs to make. In another example, one woman who failed to wear the veil resulted in acid thrown in her face. Clearly, the claim of choice isn't one that actually is a genuine choice, there is a clear social pressure to wear it, and failure to do so results in a claim of not being “pure”, or physical retribution. Source: https://www.opposingviews.com... D5: Slippery Slopes It happens in Muslim communities all the time, meaning that because someone is “less” covered, they are somehow “less” pure. This is a serious problem, as some more conservative Islamic folks will believe that it isn't good enough to wear the Hijab alone, in a bout of being most pure, one must wear the Niqab disguised as a virtue. Where does the buck stop? Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk... http://www.onislam.net..., Something we don't believe in if freedom of choice is a value is imposing one value on one person, which in turn begins to start values being imposed on all people. For every story of someone dawning the niqab for personal preference, another comes out of coercion and beatings for taking it off. In defence of my argument, this is already happening in Western Societies, and some Islamic ones as well, being more covered, and demanding more and more. Sources: http://www.pagef30.com... Conclusion: I didn't break the rules, but its up to you voters. I thank my opponent for a solid debate. Just to recap one last time, Islamic countries already are banning the Niqab, laws banning it is okay with Islamic beliefs, and wearing it furthers sexualization. As such, I believe that the Niqab only ought to be banned. I do not see a reason to simply not ban it. We value equality, Islam only allows women to wear it (and thus unequal), and those who claim to wear it by choice are simply defending their religion and culture rather than making a genuine wanting choice to wear it. Sorry to hear my opponent might be leaving DDO. I'm honored to be his last debate. I hope he'll reconsider.