THE editorial in The Age on October 3 read: “Successful and strong nations are founded on acceptance of difference, not merely tolerance of it, and on the protection of individual rights and liberties, including the freedoms of expression and religion.”
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Bendigo Catholics have just unveiled a three-metre-high statue of Mary MacKillop in the grounds of the Catholic Cathedral in Bendigo. Have a close look at the photo of the statue if you don’t have the opportunity to see it in the “flesh”, so to speak.
Does she remind you of anyone? Google a photo of a Muslim woman in a chador and see the likeness. The habit of Mary MacKillop is in our Judeo-Christian tradition which this present government emphasises. The dress of the Muslim woman looks uncannily like a Catholic nun from some years ago. The chador, along with the burqa, niqab and hijab are from the Muslim tradition. So what is the difference, I ask you? Even today some orders of nuns still dress in the original habit. Certainly nuns did not hide their faces, but as one student was quoted as saying at the unveiling, “Mary looks as though she is wearing a hoodie. We can’t see her face.”
Many of our present cabinet ministers are Catholic, including our present prime minister, and they would certainly be familiar with the appearance of nuns who wore the traditional habit. I find it quite astonishing that Mr Abbott sees Muslim women’s burqas as “confronting”, having seen nuns as part of his religious upbringing during his childhood. Nuns were teaching in most Catholic schools during his childhood in the full habit.
Our leaders in Canberra have a critical role to perform in leading our nation by rejecting the prejudicial and racially promoted views pushed by a minority of anti-Muslims. Leaders can choose to lead by their actions and their words to support the overwhelming majority of Muslims who are equally as aghast at the atrocities happening overseas as are the rest of our community. That brutality is not part of their ideology.
Our parliament welcomes people of all religions... and all clothing associated with that religion – that is what makes Australia strong today. Peoples from all nations are welcome to our shores. Our leaders can choose to demonstrate they are strong in their support of the rights of people everywhere to live their lives according to our Australian values of truth, fairness and decency. Using the word “confronting” was not wise and the outcry was instant.
I appreciate the importance of maintaining security in and around Parliament House, which may well mean developing stricter checks on all who enter Parliament House. We can then acknowledge the dress customs of Muslim women while also recognising the need for security in Parliament House. Surely people of good faith can make arrangements which will allow everyone to feel safe. Most importantly, no one is excluded.
Why are Muslim women so silent, their voices generally not heard speaking out except for a few brave women, yet they have to deal with more adverse publicity and criticism than Muslim men ever do?
Historically it is interesting that women have frequently been the scapegoats for religious zeal, when women in the Middle Ages were burnt as witches at the stake. Now Muslim women are being racially and verbally abused and spat on in the streets because of their choice of clothing. No change there. Shame Australia!
Fortunately, after a furious outcry, Tony Abbott scuttled the proposal to ban women wearing the burqa or the niqab while sitting in the public galleries. Thank goodness leadership is being demonstrated and wise voices prevailed.