Great response, and thank you.

One does need to be respectful of other cultures when judging from afar.

That said, I think there is a difference here between an enlightened view of religion (any religion) and the reality of how those religions are practiced.

And the reality is, women do not have a fair shake in this land, largely because the major western religions subjugate their roles.

In Orthodox Judaism, women are kept separate from men at services and holidays. Call it what you will, slap whatever rationale on it you want, when my mother was not allowed to attend her own father’s funeral simply because of her gender, that’s not right.

So while I can appreciate, intellectually, the circular reasoning behind the definitions of freedom, and the importance of allowing women to choose even if they choose the veil, in practice, that argument does not pass the smell test.

On a practical level, it leads to outcomes that are simply not right.

Theory here does not hold up in practice, as the enlightened interpretations of the few are unfortunately drowned out by the more base and hurtful interpretations of the other 99.98% of the population.

Women should be ordained.

Women should not be hidden behind veils.

Women should be able to attend their parents’ funerals.

If a woman on her own wants to wear a veil? Great, have at it. If a woman chooses not to attend the funeral, or decides not to go into the clergy? Great and great. But that’s not what’s going on. These are institutionalized practices. They’re acculturated. And to that extent, they’re wrong.

You wrote, “Freedom is a dangerous, frightening concept that puts you in full control over your own destiny.” It could be argued that this woman wears a veil as a way to take control of her own destiny. There are plenty of modern Muslim women who grew up in families without veils but chose it as adults, for whatever reason. And there are many reasons: religious, political, historical, financial–I just found out that Mohammed’s wives wore veils because that’s how the upper-class women distinguished themselves in that time. It was a status symbol!

So, while I understand the spirit of your post, I think you picked a poor example. I don’t expect this reply to see the light of day, as it’s not entirely germane to your point, but I thought you should have a bit more background on the whole veil thing.