People choose to follow a religion. Deaf people aren't hearing people who choose to become deaf.
I don't honestly think that people who follow a religion
choose to be a part of that religion. Could you just all of the sudden
not be Christian? I mean, you can choose to not follow a religion, but how is that in any way an expression of libertie? You're still Christian, just banned from attending Mass.
The deaf don't choose to be deaf, but many do choose to have and follow a culture. What if the US made ASL illegal? Then what? The deaf can still choose to speechread and speak, right? What if the US mandated CI?
When it comes to "fitting in," it's the deaf people who are expected to adjust to the hearing people. In mainstream classrooms, which is emphasized--teaching ASL to the hearing students or trying to get deaf students to approximate as much English speech as possible?
How is that much different than France forcing Muslims to conform to "French" culture? France is a country of immigrants. "French" culture is the minority, just like Standard American English is the minority.
Yes, some countries provide relay services, captions and interpreters but there is no country that requires hearing people en mass to learn sign language.
France isn't making anyone wear religious attire. The Muslims in France aren't asking France to create a burqa mandate, either.
If they wanted to leave their native countries for one where deafness and sign language were the norm, where would they go?
Is there a country where being French and Muslim is the norm? Of course not.
What if that country for the Deaf is Somalia? Is that fair? Can I tell deaf people who don't like how it is in the U.S. to leave? Of course not!
You have rights as citizens! As human beings!
Deaf people have always been in the "When in the hearing world, do as the hearies do" situation.
So have religious minorities. Jews, Muslims, Jehovah's witnesses...the persecution usually starts with 'inconsequential' yet 'logical' acts of legislation like so. The French government officials say there are too many Muslims, that the burqa is not welcome, that Muslims need to assimilate (lose their Islam) and pretty much everything that indicates Muslims are second class citizens, if even
that.
Being Muslim does not = being able to go anywhere in the world that is a Muslim country. You think a French Muslim wants to live in Saudi Arabia? I hear Nicaragua has great schools for the deaf. Lots of churches, too. Should I advocate the deaf people on AD move here?
Um, no. I believe in
protecting the rights of citizens rather than suggesting deportation or emigration just so that I can keep our streets looking American and our language sounding "American".
Your comparison makes no sense.
Sovereign nations make and enforce their own laws whether we like them or not.
Yes. But this has implications for the rest of the world.
My personal opinion is, I don't think officials should go after veiled women and arrest or ticket them just because they're wearing veils (as a primary offense). However, I believe they should have the right when in a circumstance that would normally require proof of identification, such as a traffic stop, entrance into a secure area, or reasonable suspicion of a crime, to request women to show their faces. If the woman refuses, then the official can take further action, as he would with anyone who refused to give proof of identification when lawfully requested. That can mean arrest, if it's a crime circumstance, or denial of access, if it's a secure area.
Muslim women have been doing that for decades. Go on a plane, step aside with a female agent, show them your face, pass security and proceed...
That's only my opinion. France does what it wants, just as any other country does. I might not like it but I also don't like the inequities that are done in Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc. France is no worse than those other countries when it comes to discrimination or religious persecution.
I think we agree on a lot. I just don't think it's fair to tell them to "leave if they don't like it".
