 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
Recent attempts to ban the burkini on a number of French beaches have occurred in the context of increasing French concern about the threat posed by Islamist extremists within France.
The situation is a complex one because, as a number of critics have pointed out, such bans show a tendency to conflate (unfairly and inaccurately) conservative, observing Muslims with terrorists.
There is an inherent injustice in prohibiting a woman from wearing a swimming costume which indicates her religious belief as a means of acting against fanaticists who pose a risk to public safety. One is obviously not necessarily the other; while the sort of public safety concerns that can be raised to justify the banning of full-face coverings cannot be identified here.
The situation is more complex in France as the country has a long and evolving tradition of secularism, which, rather than allowing the open and free expression of all religious creeds, has tended toward sanctioning the overt expression of religious faith primarily within the private sphere.
Demonstrating one's religious beliefs in France is often seen as the equivalent of promoting them, an action viewed with disfavour both under French law and as part of the country's cultural heritage.
Regarding the threat to civil order posed by women wearing burkinis, the situation becomes more difficult given the level of public hostility toward Muslims following a spate of terrorist attacks. The populace cannot be relied upon to react rationally when confronted by women in conservative Muslim attire and the risk of racial abuse and public disorder is high.
Thus, it is understandable that some communes have put bans in place. This action was actually endorsed by a local court after a riot on Corsica that saw a burkini ban put in place. However, bans seem at best a short-term solution. They serve to drive an even deeper wedge between the Muslim and non-Muslim communities living in France.
They justify the popular fear that all obviously practising Muslims are dangerous while at the same time demonstrating to French Muslims that they are not accepted. Such a message is only likely to leave a small number of French Muslims in a state of resentment and alienation - fertile ground for the radical Islamist propaganda that French authorities rightly find so concerning.