Wednesday, March 21, 2012

New Rules in Australia and Chechnya

"New laws that will allow police to force the removal of burqas, helmets, hats and other clothing concealing a person's identity have been passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly.". . .

". . . But women who wear a head covering, such as a burqa, for religious or cultural reasons will be allowed to request that it only be removed in the presence of a female police officer or in a private place in accordance with their beliefs." 

From the article: "ACT Assembly passes laws to force removal of burqa", by Lisa Cox, March 21, 2012

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-assembly-passes-laws-to-force-removal-of-burqas-20120320-1vi7j.html#ixzz1po9XHZeg

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Meanwhile, in other places the authorities are forcing a wearing of head covering:

From the article: "Chechnya's Islamic revival is becoming less voluntary", by Diana Markosian, Special for USA TODAY
 "Despite the separation of church and state under Russian law, Chechen schools must now promote Islam. There are prayer rooms in just about every school and a strict dress code, forcing all schoolgirls to cover their heads in school. Many are unhappy over the decree." ...

" . . . The process of Islamization was voluntary in the beginning. Women who wore a headscarf were rewarded with a prize. Now all women and girls, regardless of their religion, must observe Islamic dress code by wearing a head covering, long sleeves, and skirts below the knee in public schools and government buildings. Those who refuse become targets."
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-03-21/chechnya-islamic-revival/53693048/1

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Submission and Glory

I was doing a little study on women in the New Testament, and came across this study in Bible.org.  One line stood out to me as something that many readers of this blog may appreciate or understand, and I present just a short part of the discussion here.  See if you can find the line about the veil and its purpose, and why it makes so much sense in the larger picture of submission to the Creator God.

"In the case of our Lord we should see that His submission and humiliation was God’s way of blessing and bringing glory to Himself (Phil. 2:8-11). We should also understand that the submission of the Son to the Father did not in any way imply inferiority on the part of the Son to the Father. Both the Son and the Father are equally God. The Son is no less God because He submitted Himself to the will of the Father and sought to glorify Him. The submission of the Son to the Father was a functional submission, necessary for the unified activity of the Godhead."
"Such is the case with the woman’s submission to the husband. It does not imply in any way inferiority on the part of the woman to the man. The wife’s submission to her husband is her indication of her submission to God (Eph. 5:22). As the Son veiled His glory in the incarnation, so the wife is to veil her glory (1 Cor. 11:2-16) in order to bring glory to her husband. The woman is not to take positions of leadership in the church because God has chosen men to reflect leadership over the church, and since the church is the bride of Christ of which Christ is the Head, so the man is to exercise headship over his bride, his wife."
from: "The New Testament Church—The Role of Women Study" By: Bob Deffinbaugh

Thursday, March 8, 2012

FiFA To Test Hijabs For Female Muslim Players

I meant to post this on my blog as soon as it happened Saturday: FIFA has consented and women who want to wear a piece of cloth on their head while they play football.... can!

FiFA To Test Hijabs For Female Muslim Players

If you choose to read comments on this article, or any article about this, be prepared for the equation that allowing the hijab on a football (soccer) field = male oppression.  In a round about way, if women are only wearing hijab because they are being forced to (in which case they are probably being forced to stay at home as well), then indeed we are talking male oppression.

Other comments, and even the posting of this particular article in the religion section of the paper rather than the sports section, make the wearing of hijab to be a purely religious statement, forcing the rest (or West) of the world to bow to Muslim antiquated traditions, and their so-called "takeover".  Interestingly, many Muslim men and women don't even agree on how much coverage hijab means, and most of the women just want to play a sport with other while dressing modestly, according to their understanding of what modesty means.

One comment that I read pointed out that if it were Christian women wanting to play in a headcovering, the responses would be quite different.  And to a certain extent they would.  For one thing, shock that "Christian" women would actually choose to wear a headcovering, when the law of Christ says that Christians can pretty much do whatever they want (no, I don't believe this, but that is the prevailing sentiment, don't you think?). Christian women, and Jewish women, who do choose to cover, don't in general make a big deal out of getting involved in sports or appearing in court or other places, I suppose, and so don't make the news about their own personal choice to cover their hair or head in public.

Here's the thing: these women want to play football, and they want to wear modest clothes while they do it. What is the big deal? Fear of the unknown.

Many people still don't understand the choice to cover up out of modesty and in deference to a creator God.  They don't understand that Islam is as divided and multifaceted as the other of the "big three" Abrahamic faiths (that is, those who admit to believing in One God, the God of Abraham), and so any claims as to what these girls, or their husbands or fathers believe, is pure guesswork on the part of the ignorant.

The same goes for many of us girls who choose to cover: people who don't understand merely accuse, and falsely.  Why is such a little thing - dressing modestly, putting something on our heads as we pray - such a big deal? Because of what it seems to represent? Oppression, slavery, hate, religious intolerance? Or because of what it really does represent? - Respect for "a Higher Power" who created us and knows what's best for us; and a respect for other people by downplaying ourselves?