This is a GREAT video
Check out the guy with the sign at 2:53 hahahaha!
Lately I've had people ask me, "What do Americans think about us Muslims?" And automatically, my mind jumps to wackos like this. Not only is he publicly saying that he is against Islam, which we have the right to do, but he is bashing and demoralizing the religion. It's not really fair when 1. he is making FAT generalizations, 2. all religions are capable of manipulation religious text for violent causes, etc. 3. he is basing his judgement on one very tragic act that has unfortunately tainted the Muslim community.
But in response to this question, I take a few extra seconds to reflect. It's a hard question to answer. I am American, but I don't view Muslims any differently than just as humans like myself. I know there are people who are indifferent, people who might be attracted to the religion, and people who might be afraid of it out of innocent ignorance, and people who hate it for the wrong reasons like this dude. So I say that due to 9/11, a lot of people are afraid of Islam, because they don't understand it.
Now that a lot of time has passed, the fear has diminished and people are not judgmental, most people anyways. But I would bet even a lot of people in my little country hometown are judgmental, cracking inappropriate "jokes" that are racist but claim to just be an innocent. I say that I myself have no problems with Islam, simply that I didn't understand it either, but I wanted to, and that's one of the reasons I chose to come to Marseille.
Here in Marseille, I'd say every 1 out of 3 women I see wear the veil. Very, very few cover themselves completely. I've only seen a handful of them. But here it is part of the daily scenery, and I have no problem with that. However I often reflect on the veil because it has become so politicized in discussion of Western politics. Here in France, to comply with la laicite, which translates to our secularism (which we don't really follow- perhaps I should write a whole separate blog post on that), all religions signs are technically forbidden in public areas belonging to the state (i.e. schools, government buildings, etc.)- yamikas (sorry if I spelled that wrong), crosses, veils, etc. If the French state is neutral in regards to all religions, it has to represent this position in all areas, not just in policy but it must be practiced. This I agree with, but it does get tricky when Muslim children who want to wear their veil can't at school while it is a part of their identity, etc. A lot of people think that forbidding the veil is targeting Islam.
Here's my response, and it may be harsh: It's not the French state's fault that wearing the veil is a religious sign which happens to be much more obvious and sometimes not a choice within Islam, while within Christianity there are no religious garments required. The French state is laic, "secular" and it is simply following the rules. HOWEVER, at the same time, while I agree with French laicite or secularism, I am personally not against the right to wear religious garments in these places. Even though I agree with the political neutrality to all religions, I personally am not offended by religious signs. And see the thing is, while it's the French states' neutrality, it also shows to some people who France is afraid of "becoming Muslim." That is some people's fear anyways. I read a quote in a text we were reading for my religious communication class that said, "A Muslim's worst fear is for a non-Muslim to fear him or his religion." That's to say, Muslims know they are feared by some, and they don't want it that way.. so outlawing the veil makes them frustrated because they feel misunderstood. I think it's a combination of misunderstandings, because they must understand that it is the French states' attempt to be neutral and encourage a neutral perspective on the citizen's level as well.
I love the diversity that Islam and the veil brings to Marseille. Their religion and their culture is an extremely nurturing and generous one, and they are some of the warmest people- I experienced this in Morocco but also in Marseille. I connect with people when I tell them I went to Fez, and if they happen to be Moroccan, I can count on a response with something like, "OH I am from a nearby city! Isn't my country beautiful? Didn't you just love it? Next time you are there, you are welcome to my home." Seriously, it's happened a number of times. And it just makes me smile.
So I say to those who fear Islam, there is nothing to fear...
I will have to say though that although I am not against the veil, I do struggle with some of the reasons that some women choose to put it on. In Morocco we had a discussion with a group of women who wear their veil. In terms of reasons, here were some of the responses:
1. Form of protection from men
2. Personal/religious conviction, Allah wills it so I wear it
3. Part of my cultural and religious identity in general
There were some other nuanced responses but they were all basically leading back to these main three. That's what I gathered anyways. And I have reproaches to two of them:
1. Form of protection from men- some of the girls disagreed with this because really, it's only a form of protection in the sense that it provides a peace of mind. If you wear the veil, you are seen as more pure and respectful and therefore will receive less attention. But that's not always the case, if you're really pretty, you're really pretty and guys will give you attention anyways. The question us Westerners asked, was, why not create a culture or teach the males a way of thinking where the women don't need to cover their bodies completely in order to gain respect and not be given attention in the streets? Women shouldn't have to go into defense mode, it's the men who owe them respect from the beginning. All said that there are verses in the Coran that command men to lower their eyes towards women to show respect. But it's not done, and we still viewed that as an inequality between the sexes. So we struggled with this question...
2. Allah wills it- Islam holds that a woman is a pure and precious thing to protect. A thing. Hm.. I don't like that. A woman has characteristics that separate her from a man but do not lower her, in my opinion. Both sexes are to be appreciated and respected, as all humans are "pure" in the sense that Islam holds, but why are women to be hidden in order to protect them? That's why the veil exists, or at least that's how some of the girls explained it. The veil hides the woman so that her purity and beauty is protected. One could say that's putting the woman on a pedestal...... But it's lowering her in my opinion. Now I am not saying that every Muslim woman is under-appreciated and lowered in her social context or her family, I'm just saying that in Islam, there is already a gender separation that is stronger than in the other two Monotheisms.
If wearing the veil is a part of your religious or cultural identity, then so be it. I understand that. It is like a t-shirt, it's a normal garment that is part of everyday wear. I get it. It's just when you do it simply because your religion demands you to, well I could never do that. I do what I want (haha that sounds so ignorant, but really...) and I will question the authority of a "God" or "prophet" because why would I do something I don't agree with just because some book tells me to? With all honesty that's how I see it- but to them, the Coran is not just some book and they take pride in following Allah's will. So I respect that 100%. I just can't agree with it is all.
It was a very fascinating discussion. I found that I walked away feeling dissatisfied and with more questions, I didn't agree with all of their answers, and the whole time I wondered, these women are asking for our respect but do they respect us for not wearing the veil? Do they see us as impure and lacking respect for our own bodies? One woman was quite pious and I could tell, she spoke very strongly and with conviction to Islam, in a way that made me feel uncomfortable that I wasn't Muslim. Like she was secretly judging me and pitying me. She said that to not wear the veil is to lack respect for your body as a woman, woah there I respect my body and I don't wear the veil and I show my skin a lot. I had a problem with that. But the rest of the girls were so kind and sweet and curious about us too and they simply were explaining their perspectives, while that one other woman was on the defense. But we weren't there to be on the offense.
In all, I have learned a lot about Islam this semester and the culture within it. And might I add, there is definitely a difference between Occidental Islam and Oriental Islam. Islam that is developing in France for example, in order to for mosques to exist and stuff, has to comply with the ideals of the French constitution- equality of the sexes, neutrality towards other religions, et cetera. It's very interesting. I love the culture, even though I will never be truly a part of it. I say Insha'allah and Alhamdullilah all the time, as do many of my classmates, and sometimes when we're with Muslims they laugh and respond with, "Oh you're Muslim now are you?" Haha, but really I just love the expressions. I like the ability to adopt little things like that into my own individual culture.
I am grateful for the chance to learn about Islam and break down preconceived notions... only adding to my ability to try and be more culturally relative and objective rather than subjective. In my interreligious communication class we learned about the theory Relativism- everything has value in it's own cultural or religious context (everything being values, customs, teachings, etc.) It holds that we cannot place ignorant or subjective judgment because it all depends on the cultural context in which X factor exists. I love discussing stuff like that...
Well, this was a very impromptu post. I wanted to simply post the video but then I got on a rant. I think this will lead into my next post being about my trip to Morocco as I already touched on it a bit in this post. Afterwards I hope to write about French laicite versus American secularism. I wrote a paper on that and I am really interested in the topic so I will share some observations for that...
My family gets here in less than 24 hours, I am so excited!
Bises mes amis,
Katherine
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