Under the Burqua

Much discussion in Australia about women wearing the burqua in public. My own view is that I don’t care for it because it interferes with what I consider a vital part of human life – free communication between people. I like to give to a fellow human being a smile of recognition of our common humanity – and hopefully receive one in return; even a scowl recognises the fact that we share the planet. The idea that someone – perhaps especially a woman – should either be forced or (perhaps this is worse) should choose to hide their face and cut themselves off from me in that way is repugnant to me. There seems no reasonable excuse for it: if that excuse is dependence on a religion, then it reinforces my general opinion of religious as anti-human. But don’t look at me like that – it’s only my opinion.