Word: bans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...late, great Bobby Fischer [Feb. 4]. Although chess is thriving where I live, I have noticed that many talented young players have never heard of Fischer, and those who have do not view him positively. It is sad that he was never pardoned for violating a U.S. ban by playing a 1992 match in Yugoslavia. He was a chess champion who was not welcome in his own country. I think that may be partly to blame for his mental breakdown. He spent so much of his life as a fugitive - simply for playing a game of chess. Lauren Kuckelman, REEDLEY...
Feminism and secularism, rightly understood, both put a high value on liberty and tolerance. Supporters of the ban on headscarves in Turkish universities have subverted these philosophies to argue for a policy that harms women, restricts religious and political liberty, and puts the secular government of Turkey at risk...
Feminist proponents of the ban argue that without it, social pressure from family and peers would force women to wear headscarves. This idea implies that women can be liberated only by restricting their freedom. It demonstrates a lack of respect for the autonomy of women and their ability to make their own decisions. If Turkey wants to promote women’s autonomy, it should do so directly, particularly by protecting women who choose to wear or not wear the headscarf from discrimination and retaliation...
What proponents of the ban seem to ignore is that the conditions that “force” female students to wear headscarves do not disappear under the ban. According to Human Rights Watch—an international advocacy organization which has condemned the ban—the policy “has denied thousands of women access to education” by requiring them to abandon part of their religious beliefs to attend universities. To force women to choose between their faith and their future is cruel...
Even if wearing the headscarf expressed political opposition to secularism, continuing to ban it may be the riskier move for the secular republic. Powerful interest groups, as well as the general public—60 percent, according to one opinion poll—oppose the headscarf ban, and over 400 members of Turkey’s 550-member parliament voted for its repeal. Maintaining the ban despite such opposition would only foster further resentment against the government and its secular policies. The past generation has witnessed the ferocious backlash that can result against a blanket secularism imposed tactlessly, most notably...