I think I answered you in my post just above.
The French (in particular) are making up the rules as they go along. A Charlie Hebdo does little to help.
Have you considered the possibility that their sensibilities as a people and a nation might actually be offended by the burqa and what it stands for in their eyes, and a lot of the non Muslim world?
Why should their societal sensibilities be of no consequence or be hostage to their other beliefs. Both can exist equally and fight for an upper hand.
And the facts seem to be that their belief in liberty and free choice has lost out to their abhorrence of the burqa and what it represents. Perfectly ok in my book. Because they have the right like something less than what they hate another.
P.S. PDF is misbehaving. I don't know how a post which quotes another can comes before the post it quotes. Sorry man.
The paranoia is the source. I had no quarrel about banning the burqa and niqab ban. They cite a valid reason for it, it's fine.
The paranoia since has only increased, Charlie Hebdo as you say, but that's not a lone turning point, the paranoia against Muslims in Europe is long in the making, each country Britain, France, Germany has seen a rise in their fringe -right movements, far right, and a art of the right wing not considered extreme but far from the norm.
Here are some examples.
Britain: UKIP, went from being a nobody, to somehow now looking to become one of the biggest parties, bagging 10% of the vote as forecast. More fringe and far right organizations on the rise such as the EDL, Britain First.
France: Jean-Marine Le Pen Front National is now one of France's most powerful parties, went from being a mere protest vote.
Germany: PEDIGA rallies bring people out in their thousands.
These changes did not occur overnight or because of Charlie Hebdo alone, or because some wore the full face veil.
The paranoia is long in the making and it's so strong now that it is no longer a blip on the national political spectrum, it is so strong that it is making it's mark on policy and governance.
Now I outright refuse to believe that somehow, a headscarf or covered woman is somehow so offensive to the French that they'd wish to ban it without the concious or subconscious effort on their part to needlessly target a specific group of people.
If that is case, ban anyone fashions a beard, Muslim or Sikh, or non-Muslim, or any white folk that grow beards. If dressing decently is a crime, please strip your wives and daughters before kicking them out of your doorways, otherwise we'd be deeply offended. Also, ban any other head gear, Turbans gone, skull caps gone Muslim or Jewish. Anyone wearing anything remotely traditional that isn't French-traditional should be gone.
And by far the funniest part is, the world we live in, doesn't give a shyt about tradition, we live in hedonistic, paganistic times, our culture here in Europe is capitalism as much as it is anything else. It's odd that this sort of hypocrisy still has some standing among 21st century Europeans.
