SoFIA discusses ‘When good ethical principles clash’

Meeting of 23 May 2011: ‘When good ethical principles clash’

This month’s topic was really a continuation of last year’s SoFiA Conference. In short even when ‘religion is left out of it’ intelligent rational Australians may not agree about what should be done with regard to many current problems. Our brief in this meeting therefore was to discuss a couple of these ‘ethical dilemmas’.

Most of the meeting was taken up with the growing campaign in a number of European countries to ‘ban the burqa’ a campaign which has now begun to be taken up in some communities in Australia. While several factors have led to the emergence of this issue it is of particular interest as a classic ethical dilemma because two basic principles of human rights appear to be in conflict: Freedom of religion and gender equality. Overwhelmingly it became clear the members present would be quite prepared to support moves to ban the wearing of the burqa in public in Australia. The main arguments put forward related to doubts that ‘freedom of religion’ was really at stake: most of those present believed that the requirement for Muslim women to wear the burqa was not in fact religious but rather cultural and regional. Furthermore members argued that those Muslim women whose local culture required them to wear the burqa were being denied basic human rights by customs and laws designed to ensure continued male domination and oppression. Members did not believe that those burqa-wearing women who defended their ‘decision’ were free to do so; the ‘Stockholm syndrome’ was mentioned. Other arguments raised related mainly to the barrier that the burqa and the slightly less enveloping niqab present to communication and to the integration of Muslims in Christian or secular societies. Surprisingly few arguments opposing a ban were raised and little attention was given to possible negative repercussions to a ban. Participants clearly did feel extremely threatened by seeing women wearing a burqa in Australia; even those opposed to banning admitted that their reaction was almost visceral.

In the relatively short time remaining for the meeting discussion also took place on conflicts over abortion and climate change. Amongst other things we tried to identify what the good citizen’s practical duty is in light of the world’s ecological problems.