Does Freedom of Religion trump everything else?
Not according to a local judge who dismissed a woman's claim against a car rental agency because she refused to remove her veil in court.
Now, I don't really know if that is fair or not. It was up to the judge's discretion. But last year, a student at the University of Detroit was allowed to openly wear his dagger on the grounds that it was an integral part of his religious belief.
I suspect that the anti-Muslim sentiment prevailing in the U.S. might have had something to do with the judge's decision. There is an uneasiness and distrust around someone who hides their face from the world. It is a cultural thing in the West: "you have something unsavory to hide."
And that is the crux of the issue: distrust. As Jack Straw said: "I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone 'face to face' who I could not see."
Let's face it, the veil has little to do with what people are saying or doing. It boils down to this: the West does not trust Islam; it does not consider Islam to be a legitimate religion because so many of its adherents use covert, violent actions against so many in the West. If a Buddhist woman chose to wear a veil in court, the judge would not have had one qualm about it. But a Muslim woman is part of a religion that tolerates or, in some areas, fosters intolerance and violence.
The judge's reaction was not a matter of law; it was simply a reaction to a symbol that is, increasingly, seen as anti-Western.
