Bristol Evening Post Column PART DEUX

[Greg]

Ladies and gentlemen.

The second of my articles is coming around the corner, and yet I am slightly at a loss. What am I to write about? Any suggestions would be great.

Greg

[paynterm]

Write a piece about the Burka ban in France. That's a hot topic right now, so you could give a secular standpoint on it. Here's a Moral Maze on the topic: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t0d19/b00t0cmn/Moral_Maze_14_07_2010/

[steve murray]

The thing that often seems to be gotten wrong on all this 'burqa ban' stuff, is what the burqa itself is.
For instance, David Dimbleby on last night's question time stated that previous panellists on the show have worn the burqa.
I think I would have remembered that! - and so would a few million other regular QT watchers, in fact it would have caused a media storm. No what he was recalling was somebody like Selma Yaqoob wearing a more normal hair-covering veil.

I personally have only ever passed by somebody in proper burqa once in my life, it was genuinely very disturbing, and the poor woman was shuffling along about five paces behind her owner.

However, I am against banning it, the geniune victims would be the ones who suffer being locked up indoors.

[Semy]

If you're still going for a more explain-ey angle, perhaps you could explain how atheism-agnosticism-theism is not a linear scale when it's actually more of a 2D grid. Annoyingly most of those who say "I'm agnostic" are actually atheists (they have no belief), but they put more emphasis on their uncertainty to fit in with the cool kids.

[steve murray]

R'you saying the one's with a fence post up their arse are the 'cool kids' ?

[Semy]

I'm saying we're the cool kids

[Jennycide]

we are not the cool kids - we're the fringe weirdos who actually think about this stuff

On the Burkha, I'm surprised you've only ever seen one person wearing it, Steve - I saw one in the vatican when I went a couple of weeks ago, and that's just the most recent. I was actually very surprised that she was allowed to cover her face, but whatever.