Behind The Veil

Supposedly enlightened countries in Europe -- such as France, Great Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands -- either already have or are in the process of passing legislation restricting the ability of Muslim women to wear head scarves or full facial veils. Yet here in the United States, a country thought boorish by the European moral elite (effete?), Muslim women can go about their daily lives in full Islamic garb, unencumbered by any legal restrictions, and in certain places (such as Cambridge) without any social stigma.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out a legitimate reason why Muslim women should not be permitted to wear this attire. (If anyone else can, I implore you to post a comment.) Perhaps there is a security reason why a full facial veil should be disallowed, but the way we treat freedom of religion in this country, the only way this restriction would trump the freedom of religion is where a substantial government interest exists. Under this qualification, as I understand the current state of the law, the government can force women to uncover their faces should they wish to obtain official identification like a driver's license, but in their day-to-day activities, the government cannot make such an imposition.

In Germany, however, Muslim teachers are forbidden from wearing their headscarves in the classroom, while in France, female students must leave their heads uncovered. I have racked my brain and cannot come up with a rationale for this restriction beyond sheer, unadulterated prejudice. Somehow, the headscarf itself is threatening enough to the majority to the point where it must be banned. Yet here in the USA, the moral luddite of the developed world (if certain peace-mongering European liberals are to be believed), we don't let such possibly-irrational fears overcome the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion. We respect, or at the very least, tolerate, such open cultural oppression, and you know what, Europe doesn't. Who are the racists now?