“A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said…she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville [Georgia].”
“Valentine violated a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court…Kelley Jackson, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, said state law doesn't permit or prohibit head scarfs.”
"It's at the discretion of the judge and the sheriffs and is up to the security officers in the court house to enforce their decision, she said.”
“‘I just felt stripped of my civil, my human rights,’ she said Wednesday from her home. She said she was unexpectedly released after the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations urged federal authorities to investigate the incident as well as others in Georgia.”
“The group cited a report that the same judge removed a woman and her 14-year-old daughter from the courtroom last week because they were wearing Muslim head scarves.”
“Last year, a judge in Valdosta in southern Georgia barred a Muslim woman from entering a courtroom because she would not remove her head scarf. There have been similar cases in other states, including Michigan, where a Muslim woman in Detroit filed a federal lawsuit in February 2007 after a judge dismissed her small-claims court case when she refused to remove a head and face veil.”
Mrs. Valentine was wearing a hijab as seen above. Shocking isn’t it? The whole incident and all similar ones are as ridiculous as taking one’s shoes off at the airport; and adds to the safety of the USA about the same amount.
But coming from an LDS perspective we should be outraged and come to the defense of our Muslim sisters that have chosen to wear a hijab (note that I said this must be a choice, not an obligation). Why, you might ask? Well, for us endowed members of the church we also wear sacred articles of clothing and how would we feel if some redneck, xenophobic, brain-donor of a judge asked us to remove our temple garments?
In the BYU published text, Religions of the World, a Mormon nursing student studying in Amman, Jordan made the following observation about her Muslim roommate:
“My roommate…stated that there’s a time in every Muslim woman’s life when she must decide to ‘mature’ and wear [the hijab]. She described how she felt…happier, more mature, doesn’t laugh or act like a child, but she feels humble and acts humble…I couldn’t help but compare this to some of the covenants we make in the temple or even the clothes we wear. I related to [my roommate] because when I started wearing garments, I too had to change my wardrobe but I felt a great peace and responsibility to live the highest standards of the Gospel – all because some article of clothing reminds me.”
There was a time that when a Mormon joined the military they were forced to remove their garments and wear traditional undergarments during training. The church and civil rights groups went to great lengths to enforce our religious liberty and today it is no longer an issue though sadly many members feel obligated to remove their garments in a military training environment.
Unfortunately, other than supporting these Muslim-American women through my thoughts, prayers, and paying my dues to the ACLU I honestly don’t know what else to do!
1 comment:
Ooo this was shocking! I would think it's pretty obvious that head scarves are a religious thing...a judge shouldn't even feel comfortable asking for a muslim woman to remove her scarf. I use to live in Turkey and i know the importance of the headdress in the same ways as our temple garments as the student was explaining in your blog...I really think this ought to be stopped somehow...but really how can it unless the woman sue right?
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