AMERICAN FUTURE

Wearing a veil is part of a purity system, and purity systems have been a part of every culture for thousands of years, as in Leviticus of the Jewish Bible and Mark of the New Testament.

That said, purity systems are noted for four main features: a “danger” to be cleansed; “control” over social behavior; they are always patriarchal; they are always hierarchal. The Muslim woman wearing a veil, like the Christian woman wearing a hat to church or an Orthodox Jewish woman sitting on the other side of the synagogue during services, is conforming to the purity system enacted by men.

Ostensibly the purity system controls women; actually, they are a forlorn effort devised to control the “danger” from being attractive to uncontrollable men. Purity systems are, by their nature, deeply mistrustful and psychically pessimistic about the nature of human nature. Since ‘trust’ is the measure of good mental health, the purity system betrays an unsteady personal psychology.

The author of every purity system (Hitler and Khomeini, for two extreme examples), is a misogynist, and unwell.

Purity system, my foot. It’s a woman in a black sack. And it is totally unacceptable.

Burqa is Liberation, Polygamy is Equality, Jizya is Tolerance, Lapidation is Mercy, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.