"President Macron’s government denounced the campaign by the Council of Europe as deeply unacceptable, left-wing politicians criticised it and right-wing candidates for the presidency denounced it as Islamist propaganda.... The council, which works for human rights and democracy... showed young women in the head-covering with the slogans 'Bring joy and accept hijabs,' 'Beauty is in diversity as freedom is in hijab' and 'My headscarf my choice.'... Marine Le Pen, the National Rally leader who has been increasing her criticism of Islam to rival the more virulent discourse of Zemmour, called the campaign 'outrageous and indecent when millions of women fight bravely gainst this enslavement.' Voices were raised in the left-wing opposition, which subscribes along with most of the French political world to the view that the headcovering for Muslim women represents a denial of equality. Laurence Rossignol, a Socialist senator who served as women’s rights minister under President Hollande, said: 'A reminder that women are free to wear the hijab is one thing. Saying that freedom is in the hijab is another.' Under France’s tradition of strict secularism, known as
la laicité, the wearing of religious head covering is barred in state schools and by women employed in public services."
If "freedom is in hijab," then France's forbidding of religious head covering in schools is a denial of freedom. Maybe that's correct, but France can't support the ad campaign while maintaining that policy. So it's really not surprising that both the right and left denounced the campaign.
By the way, I considered putting a "sic" after "gainst," but it's in the OED, spelled without an apostrophe. For example, Christopher Marlowe used it in 1602: "Why figthst gainst odds?"
IN THE COMMENTS: J Oliver writes:
Marlowe died in 1593, so he said nothing quotable in 1602, unless you believe his death was faked and he lived on in Italy writing Shakespeare plays. But All Well that Ends Well.
As I said in the comments, this uncovers a problem that is always there when I use the book publication date and language like "X wrote" or "X said."
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62 comments:
Likely "gainst" is a typo that would call for the sic, especially since Le Pen CERTAINLY spoke French and thus did not use the word herself.
The ridiculousness and stupidity of Islam are only exceeded by its cruelty.
Sartre was right, "Hell is other people."
"Here honey, put this sack over your head, you will be happier with the boy grandpa picks for you, and if the other boys can see you, it will just make it harder for you to be happy."
That's what it is about, to keep the power of choosing a spouse in the hands of the old men. "Freedom!" It sounded so good in meetings where there was nobody who disagreed with us!
NOTHING says 'freedom', like shackles and chains!!!
You know Really experience 'joy'?? chattel slaves!!!
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
LONG LIVE ALLAH!!
The French love art. French men love their women. It is a crying shame to cover up a beautiful head of hair on a woman.
But ultimately this is mostly a rear guard action. In 100 years, Islam will control Europe. And the current Pope has done nothing to reconvert Europe. Christianity is irrelevant in Europe.
I listened to Orhan Pamuk's Snow on audiobook. It was very confusing, but the one thing I do remember was activists putting on a play called "Not Without My Headscarf." Was it a reference to the 1990s Sally Field movie about Iran? I believe Christopher Hitchens attacked Pamuk for making his Islamists comical figures and not pure evil.
We're living in an Orwellian world where things are easily made into the opposite. Not to bash, but "Islam" means "submission" or "surrender" to the will of God and it's hard to reconcile that with modern ideas of freedom. A medieval Christian theologian might be able to harmonize freedom and submission as he understood them, but modern liberals who claim to believe in individualistic ideas of freedom probably shouldn't even try.
Freedom to wear a hijab may be fine. I'm skeptical, because I don't think it's a good idea to have a society full of masked people. Are you in favor of antifa-like anonymity on all sides all the time?
This brings to mind a legitimate fear about Alinsky-style leftism and why open and free speech is critical to a stable society.
With transparency and debate from all sides, people are more likely to be able to imagine the consequences of taking certain paths.
But when people lie and obfuscate their real intentions, and particularly when you don't allow others to speak who might be able to see the consequences and provide a warning, you're more likely to end up letting the craziest camels get their nose in the tent. And before the general public understands where the lies are taking us, we've let the crazies change the status quo enough that, even when the duped people wake up, it can't be undone.
“Freedom is in jab.” Dr. Fauci
Notice how the left and the right are saying exactly the same thing, but only the right is described as "virulent."
The freedom of the hijab could be followed by state supported 'freedom' of the yarmulke. No? I guess that would cause too many attacks from freedom loving Muslims against Jews? How about a state supported 'freedom' of the Habit or Priest-cloth? Again, no? For the same reason as above?
What is it with Euro-Bureaucrats and their constant hawking of Islam as the religion to wrap your arms around? They imported it into Europe. Protect it even as it destroys them from within. And markets it as a lifestyle choice to be praised and lauded, even as it is responsible for hacking the head off of their very culture.
Sounds so suicidal to me. Wonder why Jews are told to not wear any religious apparel or symbols in Europe? I don't. I know the answer.
The hijab is a tool of oppression. It's not surprising that there are many women raised under that oppression who are more comfortable living under it. It's called institutionalized, and people who are more comfortable covering up should be allowed to (except in scenarios where it's important to be able to see someone's face).
But allowing people to embrace their subjugation and live within it is quite a different thing from celebrating their subjugation.
Marlowe died in 1593, so he said nothing quotable in 1602, unless you believe his death was faked and he lived on in Italy writing Shakespeare plays. But All Well that Ends Well.
Hijab leads to the freedom found in beekeeper suits. There can be no chubwa declared on a woman wearing one of those.
Does the hijab make women free from the male gays?
The French still have a sense of their own culture and tradition, so they fight, but even for them it is already too late. Muslims have reached critical mass, so there's no turning back.
Every club or social organization should have a funny hat.
In France you must have thee jab but can't wear a hijab
In North Africa You must wear a hijab, but you can't get thee jab.
Gainst is fine. But figthst?
The elites pushing Islam on the rest of us is going to wake some women up to what is going on.
The elites want The Handsmaid's Tale to happen. They want their harems back.
Wearing a hijab is not freedom. It's control of women by men. In Islam, men are the masters and women are their slaves.
"France's forbidding of religious head covering in schools is a denial of freedom."
France has been through this discussion many times. The French eventually decided that allowing the hijab was a greater restriction against women's freedom. It puts the fundamentalists - the ones who want women anonymous and clothed in bags - in charge. The government chose to restrict the freedom of a few in order to promote greater freedom for the many. It was a wise decision.
The western left's alliance with islamic supremacism and Iran/ChiComs continues apace.
There are still some liberals who recogonize this insanity....but that number is dwindling rapidly as the islamization of Europe marches on.
Covering a face - or an ankle, or breasts - because exposure inspires lust in others seems to reverse cause and effect, or at least to ignore the concept of self control.
What is the purpose of the campaign? Its State propaganda.
I see Muslim families in Costco; the dad and the boys wearing jeans and tee shirts.
The mom all covered up, and the pre-teen girl looking at her future life living inside of a portable tent.
Such freedom (for the men running the scam).
It's Allah's will that you make me a goddamn sandwich!
Like the Covid vaccine, the hijab will be mandatory in Europe shortly. France will have a reconsideration and cave.
"Not to bash, but "Islam" means "submission" or "surrender" to the will of God and it's hard to reconcile that with modern ideas of freedom. A medieval Christian theologian might be able to harmonize freedom and submission as he understood them...."
The Episcopalians say "O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom."
"Marlowe died in 1593, so he said nothing quotable in 1602, unless you believe his death was faked and he lived on in Italy writing Shakespeare plays. But All Well that Ends Well."
You uncover a problem that is always there when I use the book publication date and language like "X wrote" or "X said." I'll tweak it in the post.
wearing the Hijab in France is like crystalization of a super saturated solution.
The liquid is liquid till a few crystals form, then in a seeming instant the surface changes.
France has some public hijabs now, but when the number reaches a critical point, 95% of the women will go in the bag and the rest of Muslim women will be hounded and then stoned.
Then the process will begin on Western women. Conform in public or face taunts of whore and slut. It will be easier to conform than face rape daily...
Who needs Hijabs when everyone is wearing face masks?
Not to bash, but "Islam" means "submission" or "surrender" to the will of God and it's hard to reconcile that with modern ideas of freedom. A medieval Christian theologian might be able to harmonize freedom and submission as he understood them...."
The Episcopalians say "O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom."
Episcopalian doesn't mean slave, Muslim does. the Episcopal church doesn't demand jihad, Islam does.
Islam will never reform, it can't. A Muslim Martin Luther would simply have his head cut off.
@Althose
Please explain something for me.
Modern feminists are obsessed with the Handmaid's Tale. Yet at the same time they ally with and defend (as you do) a religion and culture that actually treat women that way. Why?
The only answer I see is the pursuit of power.
The hijab is a tool of oppression.
So are mask mandates.
David Begley said...But ultimately this is mostly a rear guard action. In 100 years, Islam will control Europe.
I don't think that's the most likely scenario. I think the endgame is Muslims being marched out of Europe at the point of a bayonet. People think Europeans are too soft, too weak to resist, but that's precisely why it will be so ugly when they decide they've had enough. They played nice and were taken advantage of.
Human nature doesn't change. These are still the same people who burn cities and shove millions into ovens. We like to think of ISIS as bloodthirsty savages. They're pikers compared to a self-righteous pissed-off German. The longer Europe waits to address its Islam problem, the bloodier it will be when it's time to throw down.
So many, so eager to write off the French and other Euros. Europe is a place of great surprises, and there are more where those come from, I think.
As for Islam, it is the theory and practice of male supremacy as the highest value. Prof van Creveld, who takes feminism seriously, predicts that our current ideological preoccupations with gender equality will prove a passing phase, with Islam one possible contender for alternatives in the long run.
A hard-assed, assertive secularism gainst the pretensions of theocrats is one of the greatest of our inheritances from the Europeans, and it encourages me to see some displayed.
Next thing you know those blasphemous French are going to outlaw the genital mutilation of eleven year old girls, too. It's past time for a fatwa!
“But ultimately this is mostly a rear guard action. In 100 years, Islam will control Europe. And the current Pope has done nothing to reconvert Europe. Christianity is irrelevant in Europe.”
Maybe. Or maybe they will push back. Islam appeared on the road to inevitable world domination and conquest. Then, they were stopped by Charles Martel and the French at Tours in 732, then almost a millennium later, at the Gates of Vienna in 1683. It is thought by some that the only thing that really saved us (European Christians and Jews) was the discovery of the New World by Columbus. It was the wealth from that discovery that finally allowed us to turn back the otherwise inevitable rise of Islam. The formerly Christian Europeans still have the numbers to resist the advance of Islam, and their conquest by such. The question is whether they have the will, and most of Europe currently probably does not (nor do the leftists here).
Not all religions are equal, and it must be remembered is that fundamental to Islam is the subornation of the world to Allah, as told the faithful by his Prophet, Mohammed. That religion does not believe in Live and Let Live, but rather conversion by whatever means possible, up to, and including, conquest by violence.
Episcopalian doesn't mean slave, Muslim does. the Episcopal church doesn't demand jihad, Islam does.
Her point was that the Episcopal Church (like Christianity generally) does demand submission to the will of God (just like Islam, though they differ significantly on what that will entails).
Wearing a hijab is not freedom. It's control of women by men. In Islam, men are the masters and women are their slaves.
So in order to promote freedom, women must not be free to choose the hijab. Well, there is a rich tradition in France of forcing people to be free (http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Communism/Rousseau.htm#NO%20WILL%20CONTRARY%20TO%20THE%20GENERAL%20WILL)
Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 15. King James translation.
Yes, I’m an atheist.
So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?
Strength Through Joy!
Can't believe I'm the first...
France should mandate that Muslim women wear spandex yoga outfits and take birth control pills. Terrorism would end yesterday if those poor fucking young men could get a regular dose of strange.
current ideological preoccupations with gender equality will prove a passing phase, with Islam one possible contender for alternatives in the long run.
I figure, that The Whole Point of Everything the left does; is to make people prefer Islam
I know that doesn't seem logical, but it is the Closest to logic i can find.
We're Forcing people to embrace pantransprogessiveism... Which not only does Everyone Hate
It makes No Sense. IF the point isn't to drive people to the other extreme...What IS the point?
So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?
If Islam created a religious order of women (Which it will never do) there would be no opposition to them wearing a hijab or a burqa. What we object to is their insistence that ALL women wear hijabs.
Her point was that the Episcopal Church (like Christianity generally) does demand submission to the will of God (just like Islam, though they differ significantly on what that will entails).
Christianity says we were created with free will, Islam says we are all slaves.
"Poor Marlowe died when he was only 29"
So it is said, I heard QAnon is going to be gathering in Richmond next month awaiting his re-emergence as the VP candidate with the Trump '24 campaign.
Seamus said...
So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?
**********************
A woman has to JOIN a Christian religious order. There's no such choice in Islam, which has no female equivalent of Christian nuns. If you were born to a Muslim family, you are a Muslim. Period.
(and in Islam there's no equivalent of Christian asceticism---which the nun's habit announces to the world.)
Finally: when was the last time anyone in America seen a nun in a habit?
Seamus said...
"So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?"
A nun won't be set on fire or beheaded for refusing to be a nun.
And Christopher Marlowe is still alive- I saw him and Elvis in a 7-11 just the other day.
Hijabs may be a lot of things, but they certainly aren't "European." While there is a European tradition of headscarves, the hijab doesn't look like any of the European headscarves (even the wimple). Maybe someone knows where this particular form of Muslim headdress (as opposed to traditional, culture-specific, veils) came from. I would guess it's a more recent creation.
Adding an apostrophe to gainst may not be as dopey as adding an apostrophe to till but it’s close.
"Human nature doesn't change. These are still the same people who burn cities and shove millions into ovens. We like to think of ISIS as bloodthirsty savages. They're pikers compared to a self-righteous pissed-off German."
This. The assumption of European cultural superiority, esp German, was a hallmark of late 19th and early 20th century thinking. It reflects a very high, even idealized, anthropology, the absolute belief in real human moral and social progress. The trouble comes when people don't live up to the expectations set, then they aren't just disagreed with, they are considered less than human. Hegel's world spirit has to make way, so that gives moral justification to treat such people as the barriers to progress that they are. This, with greed, was the justification for colonialism and the world wars. Luther's anti-semitism had similar roots, if the Jews won't listen to good reason, they need to be persecuted, for the good of the world.
The scary thing is that after 100 years of realizing that idealized anthropology is not realistic, there are many people who have come right back to it, with the same kind of depersonalizing rhetoric against those they think are keeping humanity from achieving its perfection.
Seamus said...
So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?
1. There is a difference between forcing all women to dress a certain way and forcing women who choose to join a religious order to dress a certain way.
2. The Catholic Church as an institution has been a force for evil since it's inception and continues to this day to serve the needs of the Aristocracy and pushes a demented form of Christianity that forces serfdom on it's adherents.
Ann Althouse said...
The Episcopalians say "O God, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom."
Women in this country are coddled.
You think it is fun to make picayune points and silly comparisons between Episcopals and Muslims.
Haha. You made a clever point.
The religion of Islam is a ruthless totalitarian amoral theocratic framework that treats women as property and leads to widespread child rape.
It happens everywhere the religion of Islam is in control. It is medieval and barbaric at every level. Talk to any vets who have been there and done that.
The saying goes: "This shit is fucked up."
"So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?"
Women freely choose to be nuns. And they can freely leave the convent.
Seamus: "So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?"
Irrelevant.
Nuns make the choice for themselves.
Nice try at deflection though.
“So we think that hijabs are destructive of the freedom of women. How do we feel about nuns' habits?“
I hear you, Dude. I thought about enlisting in the Army. But then when I heard I would have to wear a uniform I was, like, no way, Man!
I’ll never forget the day in Third grade, ‘70-‘71. The whole class was bent quietly to some task as Sister Carolyn stood in the front of the room watching. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a “Whew!” as Sister Carolyn swept her wimple from her head, sending her long brown hair flying. Shocked doesn’t describe it. I probably became a conservative that day, awakened by witnessing the corrosively anarchic influences of Vatican II and folk music.
Anyway, no one ever shouted “Whew!” as they docilely covered their head on the orders of some imam.
Islam is nothing but religious fascism. All must belong and obey. Anyone who objects will be killed or forced to belong. Just like leftism. Islam and Leftism are siblings.
"A European campaign celebrating the 'joy' and 'freedom' of wearing the hijab has been cancelled after fierce objections from France."
My block is as diverse as it gets. I love it. We have a Somali family. They are quiet and keep to themselves. Their daughter goes to public school. I see her walking home. She's about 12 and carrying a backpack. She is covered from head-to-toe in black garb. Somali garb, not Goth. Just her face is showing. I understand and respect her family's religious freedom, but how can anyone celebrate the repression that young woman is enduring daily? Especially women who loudly self-identify as feminists?
"'Gainst" also shows up in Moby Dick. It works as sailors' slang, but also as Melville's Elizabethanized English.
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