I'm hardly fond of the veil tradition, but this ticks me off. How does the veil prevent her from doing her job?British Minister Decries Teacher Who Wears VeilLONDON -- A government minister joined an increasingly bitter debate over the rights of Muslim women to wear face veils in Britain, telling a Sunday newspaper a teaching assistant should be fired for insisting on wearing one in school.
Public debate over Islamic integration in Britain began earlier this month, when Jack Straw, a former foreign secretary who now serves as leader of the House of Commons, said he requested that Muslim women visiting his office remove their veils.
Phil Woolas, the government's Race and Faith minister, was quoted by The Sunday Mirror newspaper as demanding Muslim teaching assistant Aishah Azmi be fired for refusing to remove her veil at work.
"She should be sacked. She has put herself in a position where she can't do her job," Woolas said.
...Just now, I checked a longer article. The issue cited is that the students can't see her lips move, which, in a class full of ESL students, may be important. Good thing I'm not relying entirely on the Express anymore. Still, is it important enough to fire somebody?
Last week, I learned about an airline that allowed its employees to wear turbans and other religious headgear but demanded that they keep all jewelry hidden, including crosses. Some call that unfair to Christians.
What do you guys think about these two stories?
