Why Quakers were the burqa wearers of the 17th century | Sarah Apetrei

Decision

of France to ban the burqa may not be so bad if any pious women, the discourse on human rights

In 1630, a manufacturer of some oatmeal was examined by the highest court of the Church in England, accused of preaching without a license. Before an audience of bishops, kept his hat on his head. Temporarily remove a public representative, he turned to the bishops, shouting: "But you are the rags of the Beast, which - I put it on again." Failure to comply with the "honor cap" - the practice of removing a helmet in the presence of a superior social - was a way of saying, in most confrontation, "I do not accept his authority." ( In the case of the factory of oatmeal, it was a radical rejection of all:. The bishops were agents of the Antichrist) was a gender-specific insults, such as hat-raising was a particular form of humiliation of men

Hat and dishonor to wear the burqa are not, of course, all the same. But not so much to illustrate the symbolic power of the head covered, and its relation to the policy of "leadership". Twenty years after the affair of the plant oatmeal after the Civil War and the collapse of the traditional pillars of social stability (the monarchy, and the courts of the church), the early Quakers rejected the honor as famous hat. It was a prophetic sign that not only unjust inequalities dissolves, but the men were under the authority of God. -Keeping your head was covered with a provocative statement of dissent against the system of mutual respect, apparently took place between English society.

The Quaker leader George Fox recalled later: "Oh blows, punches, beatings and imprisonment that took, not to put off our hats for men Some had their hats violently uprooted and discarded, so that everyone has lost. "Many Quakers were imprisoned men have done this crime, the main offense was his Quaker women tend to interrupt the ministers in the pulpit, and a lecture to an audience generally ungrateful

• is difficult not to side with the Quakers. They emerge as heroes of liberal modernity, defend social equality and victims of a repressive regime. But what now appears that the absence of an agreement and no nonsense must have resonated strongly with his contemporaries. Viewed from another perspective, the noble Quakers could be (and are) the marks of dangerous religious fanatics. After all, a king and an archbishop of Canterbury had been beheaded. Property rights were challenged. Apocalyptic revolutionaries plotting to take over the world. In this climate, the Quaker movement meant that the use of a hat: it meant the rejection of the head, the seat of authority and order

By criminalizing the use of the burqa, the French government has moved the debate on Islamic headscarves from serious questions about female sexuality and equality much more volatile confrontation between the sacred and secular authority . Muslim women are not necessarily always wear the niqab for religious reasons only. However, this legislation has politicized the act, so that no woman in France can now cover the face - as a gesture of piety (the search for identification, perhaps, with the wives of the Prophet) or any other thing - without also challenging the political class. The burqa ban formalises the antagonism between Islam and the secular West.

Yet when placed in this position of confidence may lead to unexpected results and total non-destructive. (On defense, Quaker apologists developed some of the most innovative arguments for religious tolerance for gender equality, and pacifism. Although it is not, of course, an excuse for continuation) can not very unfortunate that so pious women, the discourse on human rights, and participation in a confrontation with the authorities who claim paternalistic know what is best for them.

The woman in burka, hidden, but to reveal a mysterious slit eyes, has become almost a fetish, in the West as a symbol of sexual oppression and lack of grim face of Islam . It is impossible to know what the impact of the French burqa ban will have on intercultural relations, but I hope you can, paradoxically, to create a space for the voices of these women to be heard. For better or worse, as Quaker radicals, which can now use the language of gestures to express their disagreement.

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