The main problem with Bishop Santier’s comments is a false sense of equivalence between the burqa issue and the plight of Christians in Muslim countries. In the former case, a very small number of Muslim women may be restricted from concealing their faces in the interest of gender equality and public safety. Can Muslims in France build mosques? Yes. Can they observe the five pillars of Islam? Yes. Can they proselytize? Yes, and they sure do.
Contrast that with the situation of Christians under Islamic rule. They are at the mercy of the whims of their rulers, and subject to a long and elaborate tradition of abuse that is enshrined in Sharia law. Such restrictions include the inability to build new churches or repair old ones, the inability to openly propagate their faith, the inability of converts to Christianity from Islam to live in safety, and the jizya tax, among others.
And that brings about the heart of the matter: the unwillingness to acknowledge that the subjugation of non-Muslims by any means necessary is called for time and again in the Qur’an itself (see, in particular, 9:29) Hence, there is no comparison between a possible ban on burqas in some areas of French society and the situation of Christians across the Islamic world.
“We must respect Muslim rights if we want Islamic countries to respect our rights, warns French Catholic Church as it speaks against burka ban,” from the Daily Mail, February 1:
The French Catholic Church warned Paris today against banning Muslim full-face veils.
It said France must respect the rights of its Muslims if it wanted Islamic countries to do the same for their Christian minorities.
Bishop Michel Santier, the top French Catholic official for inter-religious dialogue, said very few women in France wore full veils and Muslim leaders agreed it was not obligatory in Islam.
A parliamentary commission last week urged the National Assembly to pass a non-binding resolution condemning full veils and then work out a law banning them.
Deputies say a total ban may not be legal but certain limits could be approved.
If Paris passed a law, Santier said, ‘the result could be the opposite of what is desired and lead to a reaction that increases the number of women wearing this garment.
‘The French, including the Catholics among them, should not let themselves be gripped by fear or a “clash of civilisations” theory,’ he said in a statement calling for distinctions between the majority of peaceful Muslims and a minority of radicals.
‘If we want Christian minorities in Muslim majority countries to enjoy all their rights, we should in our country respect the rights of all believers to practice their faith.
‘A dialogue in truth among believers will help us go beyond mutual mistrust. The path will be long and hard,’ he said….
Indeed, especially because the Qur’an throws yet another wrench in the works of trust and honest dialogue: “Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah: except by way of precaution, that ye may Guard yourselves from them…” (3:28).