To the Editor:
Government exists first and foremost to prevent violence by the strong against the weak. The burqa is both a symbol and a tool for the absolute subservience of women—to the point of denying them an identity. It is the duty of government to forbid such behavior.
It is precisely because “people must be free to make these decisions for themselves” that the burqa must not be allowed. It is the negation of free choice. It is the fruit of a degrading brainwashing that starts in the cradle and never ends.
Bob Nelson
Vathimenil, France, Jan. 27, 2010
Note from KBJ: The editorial board of the New York Times says people should be free to dress as they please, but it advocates forcing people (on pain of punishment) to purchase health insurance. Only some types of liberty are valuable, I guess.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 