Burkini Ban and Secularism

When I saw the High Court of France turnover the Burkini Ban, I was delighted. Burkinis are in no way a sign of radical Islam and they do not go against secularism.

First off, it’s basically a swimsuit. It’s hard to tell the difference between the two.

The burkini doesn’t cover the face, meaning you can identify the individual (thus cancelling out security concerns) and you can see all their facial expressions (thus cancelling out concerns of miscommunication). So as far as the head is concerned, the burkini is like a hijab, and the hijab certainly IS NOT a sign of radical Islam, so how can the burkini be said to be the same? It can’t, thus cancelling out concerns of radical Islam, evidently false concerns that the mayors have cited to put the ban in place.

Basically, the ban was saying, ‘You can cover your body, but as soon as you’re a Muslim woman doing it, it’s not okay.’  This is clearly discrimination.

Secondly, the rule itself didn’t mention the burkini, but said that ‘beachwear must be respectful of good public manners and the principle of secularism.’

As seen above, this ban is discrimination, and discrimination is not respectful of good public manners, so forcing people to not wear burkinis is going against the very rule used to do this same very thing!

Secularism doesn’t ban religious symbols/clothing etc (such as the burkini). Secularism involves the separation of state from religious institutions and that people of ALL religions are equal before the law. The only way the burkini (something religious) is involved with the state is when the mayors make a policy banning the burkini. These mayors are the ones involving the religious with the state. The mayors, by putting these bans in place, are the ones breaching secularism!

Lastly, just a note that the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the burkini was ‘a political sign of religious proselytising.’ Clearly, the French PM doesn’t understand that following one's beliefs is not the same as proselytising . It’s proselytising when you try and convert someone. Are wearers of burkinis even suggesting people become Muslims? No. Is a crucifix-wearer proselytising for wearing the cross? No. So why the different approach for Islam and its symbols and clothing? This, again, shows discrimination.