Word: bans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Germany, on her own at age 13, and told to study because the nascent republic needed educated women. Needless to say, they did not wear head scarves. Indeed, the fervor with which they spurned them explains a lot about the conflict now, as the government seeks to lift a ban on wearing them at universities...
...most Americans and Europeans, the head-scarf issue is a no-brainer. In a functioning democracy, an 18-year-old has the right to attend university dressed however she chooses. That much is indisputable. By lifting the ban, Turkey will have righted a wrong that has been a thorn in its side for far too long...
...Turkey’s government really were threatened by women wearing headscarves in universities, a ban on that act would constitute the worst kind of censorship. A government that quashes opposition to itself is a tyrannical government. A free society must tolerate the speech of those who would destroy it, just as a secular society must allow the expression of religious beliefs opposed...
...removal of the ban is ultimately about tolerance of religious, political, and personal liberty. These are essential human rights, not cultural perks to be sacrificed for expediency. To praise censorship and intolerance in Turkey while decrying it in the western world is to adhere to an unacceptable and unfounded double standard...
Last Saturday, the Turkish Parliament voted to overturn a long-standing ban on Islamic headscarves in universities—a ban that has long protected the secularism of the classroom from the growing influence of religious conservatives. Tens of thousands protested the repeal, arguing that a repeal on the ban is the first step to increasing Islam’s influence on society and a serious threat to a non-religious public life. While the ban may seem anathema to Western liberal countries that prioritize freedom of religious exercise, the unique political and demographic characteristics of Turkey have made...