Face veil ban - Freedom or subjugation?

AS we begin the process of changing the Catholic church’s near monopoly in primary school management the increasingly incendiary relationship between religious extremism and secular government was highlighted in France again yesterday.

France officially became the second country in Europe, after Belgium, to introduce a ban on wearing the niqab — a full face veil. Though not mandatory in Islam some Muslim women wear the niqab but it is hard to ascertain how many do so voluntarily, especially in some of the less tolerant Islamic societies.

Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our society but so too is the idea that men and women are equal and wearing the niqab, no matter what is intended by so doing, offends that cherished principle.