This past Tuesday, French lawmakers suggested the issue of a partial ban of any veil hiding the face, including burqas, the full body covering that some Muslim women wear.
This was in response to the full ban that didn’t go through because the French commission members could not all agree to pass it.
This partial ban would allow full veils or burqas to remain legal, but would give public officials the authority to request the person in question to remove it.
Considering wearing masks in public is illegal in the United States, this law would be entirely within the realm of reasonability for France.
The Muslim female garb is something that absolutely infuriates me. I hate the idea of forcing women to wear something to hide their bodies, as though they have something to be ashamed of or something to keep under wraps.
Countries are well within their rights to respect religious traditions and attire, but their governments are also well within their rights to restrict traditions that threaten the safety of all their citizens.
The full ban may have been pushing it a little bit. It would have completely illegalized the wearing of any face-concealing veil, including burqas. That may have been a little too much control, but the partial ban allows women to wear their apparel if they would like and also allows the police to ask them to remove it.
The issue here isn’t as much the banning of burqas and veils, but both a respect for females and an ability for the government to efficiently and legally protect the safety of the citizens.
Some may protest that this law would be too controlling for individuals just visiting France.
However, if you went to a country where they would expect you to dress a certain way that is unconventional to you, wouldn’t you do it to be able to fully immerse yourself in the culture?
It’s just like a “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” kind of thing. 
And why do Muslim men get to dress in jeans and button-down shirts while women are forced to conceal their entire body? I find it repulsive that men under Islamic law feel as though they can make exceptions for themselves but not for women.
Viewing these women, I feel sorry for them. Yes, some of them do choose to cover their bodies, but most are forced and expected to. They are taught to do so, and they are unable to express themselves freely through dress. Under Islamic law, women are inferior to men. Sexual mutilation of women is still practiced in countries like Egypt, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Marital rape is legal in several countries, since it is considered legal by Islamic law.
The answer to this problem is educating women on their rights given to them ,not by the Bible or any Christian doctrine, but by consideration of humanity.
It shouldn’t be our goal to try to convince them that Christianity is superior to their religion; our goal should be to teach them their rights as human beings and citizens of the world.
It is completely within France’s rights, as a country, to ban burqas completely.
However, it is considerate of them to respect others’ religions and allow people to dress as they’d like.
Wendy Morell is the opinion editor of The Refector. She can be contacted at [email protected].