Trump’s America: American Muslims giving up their hijabs

Posted by | December 22, 2016 06:30 | Filed under: News Behaving Badly Politics Religion

A growing number of American Muslim women have given up their hijabs out of fear after a surplus of hate crimes against Muslims across the U.S. The headscarf is a religious expression of the Muslim faith’s requirements for public modesty, and the radical temperament against Muslims that appears to be sweeping the nation has led to…

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By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

  • Budda

    ….on one hand, it makes sense if they fear assault

    just saying

    • Suzanne McFly

      Definitely, but it is sad they fear of being assaulted in a country that was literally founded on freedom of religion.

    • whatthe46

      but they shouldn’t have to give up a part of their culture or religion to appease racist. and it doesn’t really matter, if they wear it or not, they will still get harassed. i hate that they have to live in fear like this.

      • Budda

        True.

    • Buford2k11

      they could have easily started carrying concealed weapons, and be very defensive about it…My wife and I were just talking about her and some of her friends, starting to wear Hajibs in solidarity with some of the folks around here…My grandson, is friends with a devout Muslim family, and a devout Jewish family, and they are ALL friends…but you should hear them talk….yeesh…I know where they are coming from…and I agree with them…but the trash talk, has got to stop….hehehe…not like I was never a kid before…I just don’t remember it too well..

      • Robert M. Snyder

        If your wife’s friends are not Muslim, but they are wearing hijabs, isn’t that “cultural appropriation”? Is it okay for a Christian man to wear a yarmulke in order to show solidarity with Jews? Is it okay for a Jewish woman to wear a habit in order to show solidarity with Catholic nuns?

        • fahvel

          foolish questions.

          • Robert M. Snyder

            Why do you say that? I don’t think it’s foolish at all. I understand the concern about cultural appropriation. I would never wear a yarmulke unless a Jewish person asked me to do so, such as when entering a temple. I also understand the desire to show solidarity with someone who is being ridiculed, mocked, or harassed. So I think that this is a tricky issue. If large numbers of non-Muslim women started wearing hijabs as a show of solidarity, would most Muslims appreciate the gesture? Or would they see it as an insulting episode of cultural appropriation?

        • arc99

          I am far more concerned about the climate of hate in Trump’s America than the issue of “cultural appropriation”. Yes, there is disagreement within the Muslim community over wearing hijabs in western nations.

          I like Rabbi Jack Moline’s approach much better. I will follow his example. The first amendment specifically prohibits any law which establishes religion. Any regulation that attempted to define who is a Muslim would be blatantly unconstitutional violation of the establishment clause. You cannot have laws defining what is and what is not a valid religious belief.

          Since there is no constitutionally valid way to identify who is Muslim, then I do not see how there could be any penalty against someone like me who has been in a mosque only as a visitor, maybe says something like “all praise to Allah” before I register as a Muslim.

          When Dear Leader Trump’s Muslim registory has 10-20 million names in it, maybe they will get the idea that America does not want what he is selling.

          Of course we already did that to the tune of a 3million vote margin against Trump.

          http://washingtonjewishweek.com/34748/interfaith-clergy-show-solidarity-with-muslims/news/local-news/

          Moline said if Trump does institute a registry of Muslims, he, Moline, will “be the first in line to say, ‘I am a Muslim.’”

          • Robert M. Snyder

            I agree with everything you said. My wife’s extended family is almost entirely Slovak/Italian Catholic, and mine is almost entirely German/Protestant. We never had any serious issues to contend with. Our son married a Jewish girl. So far it’s been smooth sailing for them as well. But just to be sure, I told my daughter-in-law that if anyone ever makes an issue of her religion, I’ve got her back. I would say the same thing if she were Muslim.

            “Any regulation that attempted to define who is a Muslim would be blatantly unconstitutional violation of the establishment clause. You cannot have laws defining what is and what is not a valid religious belief.”

            I’m not sure this is entirely accurate. If a person requests conscientious objector status, doesn’t he need to prove that he is a member of a “recognized” religious group? And if an organization wants tax-exempt status on the basis of religion, don’t they also have to be a “recognized” religion? Who gets to determine which religions are “recognized” for these purposes?

            The Amish community also gets a special deal. For example, they are exempt from Obamacare and Social Security (I think). If I claim to be Amish, and ask for the same treatment, I’m pretty confident that the government is going to perform a “religious test” to verify that I am truly Amish. This test can’t be based upon where I live, because individual Amish families live within many ordinary communities. In a community near mine, we had an issue with an Amish family that was keeping a horse on a residential lot that was too small for that purpose, in violation of local ordinances. Nobody was questioning whether they were Amish. I’m just using this to illustrate that someone’s next-door neighbor could be getting different treatment by the government on the basis of his religion, and the government gets to decide whether or not that person qualifies as a member of that religion.

  • Deplorable Ratso

    Cool. Welcome to the 21st century, ladies

    • fahvel

      deplorable works for your small minded irrelevance. how sad that you exist.

  • amersham1046

    Amish, Hutterite , Mennonite ,’ women all wear head scarves, will they have to give them up also