I love the US security policies! Really I do!

[Damini]

Particularly weird because girls don't have to don the burka until puberty. Of course, according to the Koran they don't have don a burka at all, just "show modesty", but that's a whole other issue.

See, that's what I thought - I've never ever seen a child in a burkha before, let alone a baby.

 

[GRN]

That's the thing though, there are people (and I'd suggest the MIT engineering courses have a higher than average number of these) that really lack the common sense the average person takes for granted.

So, the only reason they aren't under 24-hour supervision by social services for their incompetence to function in the real world is that they're in MIT? What's that all about? I thought they had homes for these kind of people.

I was outside a hospital in Croyden, and a woman walked past in a burkha, pushing a pushchair with a mini burkha strapped inside it.

That is just plain wrong.

 

[nath]

The baby's body is already seen as sinful, as something to hide away

A baby in a burka is pretty weird, but as to the reasons for wearing one in general, I don't know that it's always about the body being seen as sinful. There's another angle, the idea that because women can be and often are judged on their looks, the burka is an extreme way of removing this from the equation. I'm not saying I agree with it, but just playing devils advocate - there's another, less offensive way of looking at it. That said, I'm sure there's a huge amount of women that wear the burka because they're told to.

 

[DaGaffer]

A baby in a burka is pretty weird, but as to the reasons for wearing one in general, I don't know that it's always about the body being seen as sinful. There's another angle, the idea that because women can be and often are judged on their looks, the burka is an extreme way of removing this from the equation. I'm not saying I agree with it, but just playing devils advocate - there's another, less offensive way of looking at it. That said, I'm sure there's a huge amount of women that wear the burka because they're told to.

That's the point, the body isn't seen as sinful in the Koran (that's a Catholic thing, gotta love that old original sin), as I said, the Koran just tells women to show 'modesty'. As for removing looks from the equation, well apart from the fact that a burka makes a far bigger statement these days than turning up in hotpants and a boob tube, you don't really think that's the reason its there do you? Sounds like half-arsed but of islamic PR spin to me.

 

[nath]

Nah like I said just playing devil's advocate to show that there are other ways of looking at it. I've seen interviews with young muslim women who explained that as the reason - sure it could be indoctrination or them covering up for more unpleasant reasons but there are a lot of muslims in this world and negative stuff about them shifts papers/holds viewers attention. If you don't keep in mind that muslim extremists are very small minority it's easy to start tarring them all with the same brush.

 

[Kryten]

I wouldn't mind so much if their whole religion (not the only ones, this includes christianity etc) is based mostly on bollocks, that like chinese whispers has warped through the years - as well as "big figures" in "religion" in the past changing it to suit their own requirements.

Faith is one thing, blind faith is quite another.

 

[GekuL]

So, the only reason they aren't under 24-hour supervision by social services for their incompetence to function in the real world is that they're in MIT? What's that all about? I thought they had homes for these kind of people.

Well, I wouldn't call America the real world I'd also include any university with computing and engineering courses in my statement. I don't think what she did is that bad and had it happened anywhere else we'd have never heard of it. Very stupid, but I can see how someone (in that field more so) getting up in the morning, might not think things through, especially if they have been wearing something for days (so are desensitised to how something looks).
But then, maybe she knew exactly what she was doing. The only reason I got involved is they way it's been reported. It doesn't appear as if she suggested it was a bomb or that it was intentional, and if it was an intended hoax it's not a very good job (have you seen it? hehe). The way it's reported suggests that it was an intentional hoax, part of some modern art statement by an attention whore, which is just an assumption from what I can see.

The MIT nerds are not the most bohemian of people, so the "free spirit" remarks don't really suprise me


Pushing religion on children is child abuse :/

 

[Scouse]

Faith is one thing, blind faith is quite another.

This amused me

 

[TdC]

I know it's utterly unrelated but here's another link. Adopt this dog or we'll kill it | The Register

ahem.

 

[GRN]

I know it's utterly unrelated but here's another link. Adopt this dog or we'll kill it | The Register

ahem.

I remember the same being done with a rabbit.