Exceptionalism and Restricting Laws

Practice freedom only in the States

Eric Cantor seems to believe he could not practice his religion anywhere else in the world as freely as he can in the United States. And he is not on his own, many Americans are sincerely convinced they are living in the most democratic place in the world were everybody has equal rights and is able to live in peace and without pressure.

Women rights

Though the first women’s rights convention may have been  held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 it took until 1869 Dec. 10 before the first territory of Wyoming passed the first women’s suffrage law.

Alice Paul and Lucy Burns  who formed the Congressional Union and picketed the White House in 1913 got prisoned and tortured, refusing that that they were political prisoners captured for their demand of freedom, right to vote and respect for women and practice of forms of civil disobedience.

Only in 1920 The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, is signed into law by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby.

Religious discrimination

The United States is also known in other parts of the world as a country where there are still a lot of people living who belief or adhere a doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races the white human race is still far more superior than any other. There are still a lot of believers found who still are convinced that other races than the white Christians can not get such a cultural or individual achievement as theirs, which is considered the most civilised and most successful commercially, scientifically and culturally.

Though in 1948 Truman had already signed the Executive Order 9981, which states, “It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.” we still find today unregularities in the treatment of coloured people and in people who have an other religion than the most frequent Christian denominations. Even Non-Trinitarian Christians are often pushed aside or find difficulties to get a job or stay in their job as soon as the employer gets to know he or she is not a regular trinitarian Christian.

Colour and beliefs

James Meredith

When in 1962 James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi violence and riots surrounding the incident caused President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.

Also Muslims did not like their brothers either who wanted to unite with non-believers and other believers. On February 21, 1965 in Harlem, N.Y. Malcolm X, black nationalist and founder of the Organization of Afro-American Unity, was shot to death to be believed the assailants were members of the Black Muslim faith, which Malcolm had recently abandoned in favour of orthodox Islam.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

16 April 1963 Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Ala.; he writes his seminal “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” arguing that individuals have the moral duty to disobey unjust laws.

Civil rights and discrimination prevention

Asserting that civil rights laws alone are not enough to remedy discrimination, President Johnson issued an Executive Order 11246, which enforces affirmative action for the first time. It requires government contractors to “take affirmative action” toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. Voted in 1965 anno 2012 this is not always followed correctly.

Many vetoes were called in and President Reagan and President Bush seemed not have been the good examples for equality between the American citizens.

In 2008 Senator Edward Kennedy(D-MA) introduced the Civil Rights Act of 2008. Some of the proposed provisions include ensuring that federal funds are not used to subsidize discrimination, holding employers accountable for age discrimination, and improving accountability for other violations of civil rights and workers’ rights.

Fantasy World Anno 2012 discrimination

In the latest chapter of a public conflict stretching back to 2010, a former hostess at a hotel restaurant in Disney’s California Adventure theme park filed a federal lawsuit against the company Monday, saying she was harassed and discriminated against at work because she is Muslim and a North African Arab. ( Muslim hostess and Disney still at odds over headscarf)

But there you could question if the person went to the right place to apply for a job. When there is a certain firm which want to have a strict dress code you could say there is equality, when everybody, whatever their believes may be have to hold to it. So when by Disney  “cast members,” or employees who meet the public, are prohibited from wearing religious items you could agree with that in case they also prohibit other worldly symbols or tags.

But when a company has worked to accommodate employees’ concerns by allowing such modifications as longer sleeves and skirts instead of pants on the demand of certain groups they should also have ears for the demands of other groups. In 2004, Disney World in Florida was sued by a female Muslim employee who wanted to wear a headscarf to work. The case was settled out of court and the terms were confidential.

Imane Boudlal

Imane Boudlal, 28, is a U.S. citizen born in Morocco started working at the Storytellers Cafe in Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in 2008. Two years later, Boudlal asked to wear the hijab, or headscarf worn by observant Muslim women, at work, but said she was suspended after rejecting Disney’s costume alternatives and offers of four backstage jobs away from the public eye. She filed a 2010 complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is still pending. Boudlal’s case asks for a permanent injunction requiring Disney not to prohibit employees from wearing hijabs, plus punitive damages and anti-harassment training for company employees that includes Muslim issues.

Women-rights on health care and pay equity

“The choice between going backward or moving forward has never been so clear,” President Obama appealing to a key constituency, told a supportive crowd in Denver at the start of a two-day tour of Colorado August the 8th.

In the United States women still not have free access to contraception and preventive care and for the jobs as in many other industrial countries, there is still not an equal payement for the same job. Obma spoke of signing a bill setting new rules for pay equity lawsuits. And he cited the appointments of Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama said, wants to “kill” the health care law and would likely appoint conservative judges willing to roll back women’s rights in a variety of areas.

American exceptionalism and European restricting laws

Taking Eric Cantor his remarks about the right to practice religion freely in the U S more as a statement of American exceptionalism rather than one of limitations on religious practices in other countries, his’s statement does not quite ring true, does Corruptus Maximus in The DC Folly Trolley recognises.

The DC Folly Trolley wonders how countries like Belgium,England, France,  Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and many others would interpret such a statement, to say nothing of Israel.

In Belgium we do have several questions about homophobic reactions, intimidation and violence against women from minority groups. In Belgium it is also fashion to create every time some new law when some accident happens, while they could make use of already existing laws. Several laws may seem to limit the freedom of the human being but are there to protect the animal or nature, which are considered also creatures which because they have no voice for them selves to speak out, should be protected.

It could give the impression that in our countries in Europe we do have many laws which do restrict specific religious practices, but in spe the intent is not always to prevent free worship. As such to slaughter lambs for halal offering they have to be presented in the halal slaughterhouses and may not be slaughtered at home, though still many muslims do. Chickens do have to be able to run freely and when they have to be killed this has to happen in a certain way, to avoid suffering. So you may say the laws for the animals, like lambs and chicken, for example, regarding the slaughter is an issue that addresses cruelty to animals. The law in Sweden, while it seems silly on the surface, actually prohibits the kosher killing of the birds by Orthodox Jews. It seems likely, however, that the concerns of animal rights activists and Jewish practices can be reconciled.

The European ban on circumcision for women is an act against cruelty and not so much as an act against certain religions. For the circumcision on boys, which is not only done by Jews but also by certain Christians and non-believers, may only be done by proper trained people, by preference doctors in medicine.

A woman in a burqa. Like a kaftan, but more controversial.

The religious clothing ban in Belgium and France is in the first place a safety issue rather than a blatant attempt to restrict religious freedom as many Muslims believe. Under the burqa one can hide any person and weapon. Other religious dress is totally accepted.

In Belgium you shall be able to find many believers and non-believers freely mixing with each other, at work, home and in leisure time. Many Belgians are like other Europeans also open to other cultures and religions, though we do agree we do have the few exception which get to the front page of the newspapers.

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• The DC Folly Trolley
  (Corruptus Maximus focuses on what he refers to as the DC wreck and surveys the damage inflicted upon our nation by elected officials, corporations, and their lobbyists as well as the payoff money lavished by the corrupt upon the corrupted.  The wreckage strewn over the streets of the Capital by these decadent special interests is none less than the will of the people in a once proud Republic.)
  From all reports, Mighty Mitt did very well in grade school. In fact, he finished first in his class in the ABCs.
  Got all the way up to Z without missing a single letter.
• Religious Practices around the world
  How many Christians–or Hindus, or Muslims, or Buddhists–are there in the
  world?
  What country contains the highest percentage of atheists?
  What and where are the largest churches in the world?

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Please do also find more in:

1. Women’s History Month
2. The History of Women’s History
3. Life Before Seneca Falls: Roots of Women’s Rights
4. Black History Month Features
5. “I Have a Dream” Speech
6. Letter from Birmingham Jail
7. Notable Speeches and Letters by African Americans
8. Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
9. Martin Luther King, Jr.
10. Civil Rights Leaders
11. Black History Month
12. African American History Timeline
13. Civil Rights Cases Reopened
14. Civil Rights
15. African Americans in the 111th Congress
16. The History of Affirmative Action
17. Affirmative Action Timeline
18. Confederate Flag Controversy
19. African Americans by the Numbers
20. Top Cities in the U.S. for African Americans
21. Ten Cities of 100,000 or More with Highest Percentage of Blacks or African Americans
22. The Wage Gap, by Gender and Race
23. Black or African-American Population for the U.S. by Region
24. Life Expectancy by Race and Sex

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1. Pass notes No 2,952: The burqa
   You could theoretically be fined for sitting in a cinema with a paper bag on your head. But it follows parliament’s ruling that the burqa is inconsistent with republican values.
2. An anti-burqa law to renew Islam in Europe
   Wearing the all-enveloping outer garment is not a religious requirement, but a cultural tradition from Saudi Arabia. It is the symbol of an attack by extremist Islam on Europe, and this has generated contempt for a certain retrograde form of Islam. A law is needed against wearing full-face veil in public spaces, but what is even more needed is a broad dialogue between East and West that would allow Islam to be modernised and integrated into European culture, and thus have an opportunity to contribute to world civilisation.
   +The burqa and the niqab raise fear . . . for good reason. They scare Muslims and non-Muslim alike. When this practice is associated with Islam, when it is made into one of its essential elements, this fear is not only about Muslims, but also about Islam itself. The term phobia in “Islamophobia” in fact stands for “fear”.
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   Some say that a law banning the veil would be an attack on freedom. That is true, but there is a reason for it. Are not all laws attempts against freedom? Freedom has limits defined by common sense and shared values, which also have the right to be protected. Hence, in France (and elsewhere in Europe), walking naked in public spaces is banned (except in designated places). Hence, where is freedom then?
3. The Cultures behind the Burqa
   Namus represents obedience, faithfulness, modesty (in behaviour and in dress), ‘appropriateness’ – for the women of course. It can be translated as ‘virtue’ or ‘honour’.
   Therein lies the raison d’etre for barbaric murders, suicides, infanticides, forced abortion, and other yucks that have come to be associated with these societies that also practice some form of Islam. These barbarous practices are called overall the ‘restoration of namus’.
   The ‘violations of namus’ are numerous, including – wait for it! – giving birth to a daughter instead of a son. In some cases it includes encroachment on a man’s plot of land.
   It should be pointed out that support for namus does not exist in any of the holy scriptures. Apart from the fact that all holy scriptures are man-made fairy tales embodying wish fulfilment, eternity and ultimate acceptance, namus is a man–made construct of the vilest nature.
4. Ban the Burqa | Let’s face facts, the burqa is an affront to feminism
   Who knows the difference between ethics and morality? Belgium does, for one. Technically, there’s not a lot in it. The dictionary makes ethics and morality synonyms, each relating to our cumulative attempts to tell right from wrong and act accordingly.
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   In everyday life, though, we tend to distinguish on a public-private basis. ”Morality” tends to imply a code that is personal, often sexual and, just as often, religious in origin. ”Ethics” meanwhile, denotes a public and generally secular amalgam of these values. The baked crust, if you will, atop the pie. Hence talk of professional and corporate ethics, ethical investing and, of course, ethics taught in religion’s place in schools.
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   But losing modesty is a small problem compared with losing face. And – this is weird – although Belgium’s burqa banning is characterised as a victory for the far right, in fact, dammit, it’s a feminist issue.Democracy pivots on the universal franchise; the presumption for each individual of a public identity, as well as a private one. To cover someone’s face in public, to reduce them to a walking tent, is to declare them lacking such identity, destroying any possibility of their meaningful public existence. It is, literally, to efface them.
5. Burqa in UAE Through its history
   Since old days Burqa is a very important peice of khaleeji folklor dress. Usualy It has black color and women wear it over their faces and it looks like mask. The purpose for wearing burqa  is to hide face and show pride and high morality of the woman who wears it. Also burqa has been worn with purpose of embellishment. Burqa also can be met in other arab counties but different in shapes and names. In UAE this cover is called burqa,naqba,baqara,maqrun and in some other Gulf countries it is called al-butulah al-khaleejia.
6. What is Halal Food?
   Muslims are taught through the Qu’ran that all animals should be treated with respect and well cared for. The goal is to slaughter the animal, limiting the amount of pain the animal will endure.When an animal is slaughtered, the jugular vein is cut and the blood is allowed to drain from the animal. Remember, Muslims are prohibited from consuming animal blood.

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