I write this, of course, as both an atheist and a Rossbiff, but I must say that the news that France has banned Muslim women from wearing the full buhrka strikes me as pretty damn stupid. As a liberal, I naturally hold two opposing points of view on this: on the one hand, I think women have the right to dress as they whish, and the state has no right who can wear what. But, by the same token, I don’t think religion should dictate dress-code either.

Once you start to think about it, this is a very complex issue. How does one balance the right to religious freedom with the right of women to be seen as equals? Women are equal to men, which is partly why France banned them from wearing something which made them appear unequal to men; but, if they are equal to men, should they not have just as much right to wear whatever they wish as anyone else? When put this way, this law is self-contradictory: in trying to defend the rights of women, France has, in fact, oppressed them more. Before this ban, all French women could wear whatever they wanted – if they chose to wear the veil, they had that right.

I know it’s not quite that simple. The fear is that women are forced into wearing the veil by their husbands, so this ban would free them from that religious oppression. For starters, that assumes women in Muslim households are utterly subservient and have no choice in what they wear or do, which I doubt is often the case. Secondly, what about a woman’s right to express themselves, including their religion. Did it not cross the minds of the French parliament that the veil is worn out of choice? Do French Muslim women not have a right to express their selves?

This is therefore a highly simplistic act. Yes, it seeks to free women from oppression, but simply to ban it is even more oppressive and intolerant. It’s counterproductive too, as French Muslims will now feel even more oppressed and thus more likely to take hardline stances. French society will become more segregated – it seems it is becoming less and less tolerant. Moreover, it seems to me that this ban has wider implications: if they ban buhrkas, have the French also banned headscarfs, balaclavas and zentai suits? Although I have major objections to organised religion, I object far more to what the French government has done. This is an extremely stupid thing to do, and will cause more problems than it solves.

I could go into this much more deeply, and I’m sure others have. I’ve just incoherently scratched the surface here. But I’m very worried about this: whatever question we might have about religion, the status of women in Muslim households, or whatever, simply to enforce this carpet ban will only lead to trouble.