Earlier this month, there was a nearly unanimous senate vote in France banning burqas and niqabs, which are body and head coverings worn by Islamic women. Abdel Muti al-Bayyumi, a member of the Al-Azhar mosque council in Egypt, surprisingly agreed with the decision stating that head coverings for women go against Islamic law and the teachings of the Quran. Most of the French citizens agreed with the ban and those opposed to it were predominantly Muslim.

Fines will be enforced upon women who wear burqas or niqabs and an even steeper fine and jail time is in store for any man caught forcing a woman to wear a head veil. Muslims are saying that it is restricting their rights to practice their religion and that, slowly, countries are making anti-Islamic decisions such as this one.

France is right in banning it, because in the end, they are freeing women from oppression of their religion and of men. Those who oppose it, stating that it restricts religious freedom, are misguided because it has become a cultural law and not an actual religious law. In addition, France is preserving their way of living. The French have lived a certain way for a long time and the majority wish to keep it that way.

In the U. S., our Constitution is similar. For example, polygamy is still against the law because we are a westernized country and marriage has always been between one man and one woman; to change that would put an undue burden on society and the people.

I also agree with France because they are politically and peacefully fighting Islam and its hold on the world. It is one of the fastest growing religions and spreading throughout the entire world. France is controlling certain negative aspects of the religion because it has been having a negative impact on the country.

As Christians, we are called to hate the sin and not the sinner. I truly feel sorry for Muslims because they are trapped in a religion with no hope and no freedom. I hate Islam because it denies people their God-given right to freedom — and that is the opposite of everything that Jesus taught. There is no love or peace in this oppressive practice in Islam, and we need to fight the religion, but not the people. I think, in a secular way, that this is what France is trying to do — not take away people’s freedoms but give them more. In America, it would play out differently but not every country is bound by extreme political correctness and tolerance.