2005-12-23

Keep our democracy alive

Political voices in Holland are calling for a ban on the burka, the garment that covers a woman from head to toe, and which is sometimes worn by certain muslim women. The ban is called for out of security reasons: a woman dressed in a burka cannot be recognised and identified from a security camera. A burka-wearing woman could remain anonimous for the eye of the world! The fear of terrorism is great in the land of politicians.

But where will it end? People wearing baseball caps or sunglasses are also hardly identifiable from a security camera. Shall we thus ban baseball caps and sunglasses too? And then?

Environmental, ecology and anti nuclear energy activists are also under (often illegal) close scrutiny from the authorities and monitored by the secret services. Some of these activists wear woolen socks and leather sandals Shall we thus ban socks and sandals?

Criminals undermine society by selling drugs to children, committing crimes and executing their opponents in the middle of the street. Some wear expensive clothes, sport shoes, gold watches or jewelry. Shall we thus ban those too?

Banning clothes or making it illegal to participate in ordinary (civil) activities, like photographing and demonstrating, is breaking down the democratic foundations and principles of our open and free societies. Once we, the people, let politicians do that deconstruction and let them get away with it, we're opening ourselves up for fascism, dictatorship and censorship. And our enemies will have won! The terrorists will have achieved their goal: the annihilation of the free and open Western democracies.

Fight terrorism but keep our civil liberties intact. Keep our democracy alive!


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