As an atheist  I respect the right of people to practice whatever absurd religion that they choose, to express their beliefs, to assemble with others at religious service and to be free to change those beliefs at any time.

Religious customs , traditions and practices are another matter altogether, in particular  when they impact non believers .

Facial covering such as the Niqab is not a requirement of Islam , it originated in certain pre Islamic Arabian cultures, imported from a region of  Saudi Arabia calked Nadj...it is worn by a small minority of Muslims....it is banned in countries such as Chad, Cameroons, Niger, Congo Brazzaville, Turkey, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Egypt...Morroco recently banned burquas for security reasons for obvious reasons.

It is naive to believe that the wearing of facial coverings cannot be abused...they have been and will be...there is nothing " civilzed" about them.

Labels: moderation: toxicity, identity_attack