The "Burqa Ban"

Hello there again! Just a little while ago I received another Upfront magazine, and I happened to find an interesting article to post about. The article, “Unveiling Europe” by Veronica Majerol, talked about the “burqa ban” that was put into effect in April 2011. This law “forbids covering one’s face in public”, and for religious purposes it affects about 2,000 French Muslim women.

The creators and the supporters of the law say that allowing people to hide their faces in public prevents them from fully participating in French society and could enable crime or even terrorism. But many critics believe the law stems from the increasing anti-Muslim sentiment in France and all across Europe. The French believe in secularism, which is the idea that religion should be kept out of public life, and think the Muslim women should not be able to wear the religious head coverings in public. But many of the women feel as though the ban in taking away their right to religious freedom.

I think that the ban should be removed, as I agree with the women in the thought that it is taking away their religious freedom. The Muslims should be allowed to wear the burqas if they want to; it is an integral part of their culture and important to their way of life, so no one should be able to prevent them from wearing the coverings. If they do not want to wear them, they shouldn’t be forced to wear them, but otherwise they shouldn’t be restricted. Instead of protecting rights, the ban is taking them away.

The First Post

                Now I’ve finally taken the time to post on my blog! Before I get to what I actually wanted to talk about, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this. Welcome to my blog.

                Onto the actual topic! I recently read an article that was quite interesting; the title was “Arctic Meltdown” by Justin Gillis and Elisabeth Rosenthal. The title sums up the article well, as it covers the topic of the rapidly melting ice in the Arctic Ocean. This article covers the study of global warming and increasing world temperatures, and how we are causing them.

                In my opinion, we should probably be paying more attention to what we are doing to the Earth. I, personally, want to keep an eye on what I’m doing to the planet that I live on and that I need to survive. In the article, it is mentioned that global warming may lead to severe weather patterns; I definitely believe this is true. I have noticed that the amount of bad storms we have been receiving increases a bit every year, and that every year we seem to get less snow and have less cold weather. I can tell that the climate is changing without even having to do an in-depth analysis of it.

                Also, it mentions the rising of the oceans. The article stated that the biggest worry is “the potential for a large rise in the level of the world’s oceans.” I don’t believe that this will cause that much of a problem as the ice from which the water would come is already in the water and displacing that water so the ice underwater would just change to water. It is only the ice above water level that the melting of would cause any rise in the water level. Still, this definitely should be watched carefully.

                Many people don’t really take the time to actually think about what they are doing and how it will affect the future, but they should. Thank you for reading this, and have a great day!