Burqa banning is an issue where people of different beliefs may clash or align.
Christians and Muslims align on views on homosexuality, abortion, illicit sex and pornography, for example, except where violence is involved in making the point. Both do not like that their sacred symbols are ridiculed, but their respective reactions differ when faced with actual incidents.
Jews and Muslims are historical enemies but are aligned against Christians on the disbelief of Jesus’ divinity and the Trinity. Jews and Christians find the same resentment to being referred as apes and pigs in the Qu’ran.
Atheists and humanists find common things with people of faith in having an orderly society under rule of law but differ greatly with certain suppositions and rights, e.g., evolution and homosexual life.
It is not surprising when allies become adversaries, and vice-versa, depending on the subject.
The secular west would naturally be against burqa wearing, not because of intolerance to people of a certain faith, or it wants to limit women’s right to choose. It is both a security issue and a threatening symbol (like the swastika) that raises division in a multicultural, pluralistic society.
To the non-Muslim population in the West where they are a majority, the burqa is deeply associated with sharia and intolerance. It is a reminder of oppression of women, whether the wearer is just making a statement, or her husband insists on it, or she is freely wearing one.
I agree with the poster who made a distinction between burqa wearing and crucifix wearing. I don’t see how a crucifix would be offensive except in Saudi Arabia, or as a house warming gift to Muslims or JWs . But we live in illogical times, so who knows how this will play out?
9/11 certainly gave rise to the “new normal”.
