In Istanbul there is a great controversy as to whether or not women should be allowed to wear headscarves. This is partly due to that fact that many of Istanbul's occupants believe that allowing women to wear them will ecncourage the government to become more ruled by Islam and cause women to be more subdued. There is an argument that it is not religious but simply secular, yet there continues to be discimination against women who attempt to wear headscarves while in positions of power or importance especially.
I think this is a terrible mistake, as I have concluded in previous blogs, to associate Islam with terrorism and to discriminate agains the Islamic tradition. On top of that, it is simply a matter of preference and of comfort and we ought to treat all religious and secular traditions with respect. I can understand why people might be concerned with an Islamic government, peacfully or unpeacefully taking over. It is natural to want to stay the way you are, but there must be some sort of balance between tolerance and tradition so that those in Istanbul can both allow others to be as they are (without hurting anybody) and still be how they want to be (without oppressing anybody). I propose that there be a distincion between license and freedom, or as you might think of it, abuse of freedom and freedom used properly. As long as nobody is infringing on anybody else's freedom, everybody should be free to do as they like.
Original Article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42226074/ns/world_news-europe/
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