Hesse bans burkas for state workers

Big Don

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Hesse bans burkas for state workers

Published: 2 Feb 11 11:20 CET
The Local.de Excerpt:


The state of Hesse has banned the wearing of the burka – the Muslim dress that covers a woman’s face – by state employees during work hours, officials announced late Tuesday.

The decision was made by Interior Minister Boris Rhein in response to a worker at a local administrative office, or Bürgeramt, in Frankfurt who wanted to report for work wearing a burka.

The woman is just finishing a period of parental leave but has been given some extra time to reconsider her position.

“We have allowed her a couple more days to think about the situation,” said Frankfurt city head of personnel Markus Frank. “We want to relieve the pressure somewhat.”

The 39-year-old woman had the option of returning to work without her burka. Before she went on parenting leave, she wore a headscarf only.

But shortly before her scheduled return to work, she announced she wanted to wear a full burka on religious grounds. Daily Bild reported that there might be financial issues involved, as there had been discussion of a €40,000 settlement, though the woman’s lawyer had later talked of €18,000.
<<SNIP>>

Interior Minister Rhein said the state government was on safe legal ground because public service workers were obliged to be politically and religiously neutral. Veiled women conveyed the image that was not consistent with liberal and cosmopolitan values.

“What’s more, the burka can be understood as a sign of an attitude contrary to the values of the western world,” said Rhein.

The environmentalist Greens members of Hesse’s state parliament backed the decision.

“We regret the fact that it’s actually come to this debate because this abstruse interpretation of Islam by the city employee shows an image of Islam that has nothing to do with the views of almost all Muslims in Germany,” said Mürvet Öztürk, the integration policy spokesman for the party’s parliamentary group in the state.
 

Empty Hands

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Freedom of religion's a *****, ain't it? Sometimes people will want to use their freedom to do things that you don't agree with.
 

elder999

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Freedom of religion's a *****, ain't it? Sometimes people will want to use their freedom to do things that you don't agree with.

They don't have "freedom of religion" in Germany-the government determines what actually is, legally speaking, a religion...............
..................just like in the U.S.
 

Tez3

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Quite honestly if a burka had been available to wear after the births of my children I would have worn it until I got my figure back! Nobody comments when you are pregnant, it's a 'bump', afterwards you feel so fat and unattractive a burka would be just the thing!
 

Empty Hands

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They don't have "freedom of religion" in Germany-the government determines what actually is, legally speaking, a religion...............
..................just like in the U.S.

Yeah, I know, it's a commentary on the juxtaposition of "freedom and liberal values" in places like Germany and France with religious intolerance.
 

granfire

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Freedom of religion's a *****, ain't it? Sometimes people will want to use their freedom to do things that you don't agree with.


Well, There is your freedom and my freedom....

I am kind of chuckling at the thought of having a purple blurb sitting behind the desk in a public office. liek, uhm, no....the Burka is an item to prevent communication, not exactly what you want from a public servant.

(In that case I am also inclined to call BS...if the head scarf was fine before the popped out a youngun, it's plenty good now)

FWIW, there are more Turkish women wearing the head scarf in Germany that there are in Turkey itself.
 

Bob Hubbard

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Could be worse.
She could be a Scientologist.
Germany considers that group a cult.
 

Ray

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It would suck to have enough commitment to your beliefs to reorder your life to conform with them.
 
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Big Don

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It would suck to have enough commitment to your beliefs to reorder your life to conform with them.
Or to pretend you have enough commitment to leach 40,000 out of the state...
 

David43515

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It would suck to have enough commitment to your beliefs to reorder your life to conform with them.

Yes, sometimes it does. Alot. But it`s like anything else in life, if it`s important to you you`ll make it a priority.Most of the time I find people very understanding, which I`m grateful for.
 

CanuckMA

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It would suck to have enough commitment to your beliefs to reorder your life to conform with them.


When you have that level of commitment, your life flows through them. It needs working on, but it's not as bad as you may think.
 

Blade96

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i wouldnt care if someone wanted to wear a burka. Its being forced to wear it i wouldnt agree with. or someone trying to force a muslim not to wear their muslim clothes.
 

granfire

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i wouldnt care if someone wanted to wear a burka. Its being forced to wear it i wouldnt agree with. or someone trying to force a muslim not to wear their muslim clothes.


I don't know. If you have professionally to deal with a person hiding under a burka, I don't think I'd care for it. Like I said, it's a tool to prohibit communication, not what you'd be looking for in a social context. it's much worse than dealing with somebody wearing dark sunglasses all the time...

We generally do not deal with people wrapped up like that - and in the muslim context with the burka women are not in the social context either.

My mom had a lady apply for a job as a nurse in the black thing that just leaves the eyes open (If I recall the name...) in the end one of the mentally disturbed patients yelled 'hey, look, a nun' :)

(but I am thinking she is looking for a tidy nest egg...)
 

Blade96

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Oh, communication and social contexts. right. I get it.

i mean if someone is just milling around and wants to wear their burka, its meh to me.
 

Flea

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I remember once standing on a subway platform and seeing a young lady in a burka. I had a visceral reaction to all that fabric - I found it very intimidating, kind of like Darth Vader. Of course, that's the only time I ever encountered anyone garbed up like that. I was tempted to strike up a conversation to try to get past it, but ... it didn't feel approachable at all. If I lived in a setting where I was used to seeing people wearing them, it probably wouldn't bother me. It's all about perspective.

I say, let her be. If it's really that big of a crisis, just shift her away from the front office where she's less visible. Quality of work has to fit into the equation at some point. If she does her job well and shows up on time every day, let it go.
 
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Big Don

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Only a very small minority of Muslim women wear the burka. Going from a head scarf, which she had been wearing to work, to a burka is a huge difference. I'll bet your boss wouldn't be too happy if you showed up to work tomorrow in full (movie) ninja garb...
 

Carol

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I don't think a burka has anything to do with the root of the issue. Reads more like she concocted a scheme to get money out of the state so she could stay home with her kid(s) and not have to work for awhile.
 

Bill Mattocks

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They don't have "freedom of religion" in Germany-the government determines what actually is, legally speaking, a religion...............
..................just like in the U.S.

Excuse me?

I am aware that the IRS determines tax-exempt status for non-profits, including churches. One might construe this as defining what a religion is...

However, the USA is unlike most governments around the world in that it does not determine what is or is not a religion, what is or is not a church. It may not grant tax-exempt status, but that does not mean it is not a religion in the eyes of the federal government. The US simply does not grant (or deny) official recognition of religion. Contrast this with Germany, which does not recognize Scientology as a religion.
 

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