I know that many people will not agree with this
blog post but it is something that drives me absolutely crazy. Airports are
secure areas and need to be treated as such. An airport is somewhere that
should be a neutral area, where religion and beliefs should not come into play.
The fact of the matter is, in a secure environment you need to be able to
identify individuals that are in those area.
The topic that I will be addressing is Burkas being
worn in airports. I totally respect an individual’s right to wear whatever
clothing they want, and their freedom to partake in whatever religion they
want. Don’t get me wrong and take this as an attack on any specific religion or
belief system. When boarding a plane or any other form of public
transportation, the officials in charge need to be able to identify whatever
individual is underneath the Burka. Wearing a Burka is simply not appropriate
while going through airport security.
I find it quite troubling for numerous reasons:
1. Any
person who boards an aircraft needs to be able to be identifiable. You should
not be able to produce a passport picture that includes an individual covered
in a Burka (which does happen). Part of the reasons that we have passports is
to produce government issued identification. How can you possibly identify a
person which is covered by a Burka in their passport photo and in real life?
2. Any person in the world could dress up in a
Burka and refuse to unveil for “religious reasons”. It is a huge security risk,
not only to airport and airline personnel, but to the public as well. Someone
who is not allowed to fly on a plane could easily cover themselves and claim
that it is for religious reasons.
3. The
public that are put in the situation of a veiled/unknown individual boarding a
plane are put in an uncomfortable position.
Again,
I am not writing to say that individuals who are devout to a religion should
not be able to practice it freely, but there is a time and place to take place
in those religious activities. I fully believe in freedom of speech and freedom
of choice, but in an environment such as an airport, precautions need to be
taken and all individuals should be totally identifiable at all times. In a
secure area, security overrides everything else, including religious beliefs.
I believe that your post is going to generate a lot of controversy, but I completely agree!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I agree too... not to be racist or anything but for security measures you shouldn't be able to cover your face, safety is probably the most important aspect anywhere.
DeleteI disagree fully. Why should I be worried about who is underneath burka? It's what they plan to bring onto the airplane is what the concern should be, because when airport security takes away what makes them a threat to air travel, what is there to worry about? No more security risk.
ReplyDeleteWhat is there to worry about? The fact that they could either be hiding something under there or attempting to travel under someone else's name. You never know what someone is trying to hide and wearing things such as Burka's helps them to hide potential threats!
DeleteI guess some of us missed 9/11 and what the potential security risks are...
ReplyDeleteAlso, this is in regard to anywhere that the identity of a person needs to be worn, such as a bank or airport. If someone walked into a bank with a ski mask on, the cops would be called ASAP. Same mentality. You don't know what is underneath the mask or Burka. End of story.
Completely agree! 9/11 is a very good reason Burka's shouldn't be aloud in airports! It has nothing to do with the religious aspect, it has to do with safety. I think everyone worries enough when they fly!
Delete