Three Not-So-Wise Men

[I considered not posting this, especially as I am a white male in New Zealand, but I'm pissed off. If you prefer, watch this Muslim comedy.]

People are being offended because the presenters of Top Gear wore burqas. Having seen the episode in question, I've got a few things to say.

Firstly, let's break down the wearing of burqas. Is this a Muslim only thing or what? And by Muslim, I mean religious Muslim concept. If the burqa is specific to the Muslim religion, then there are women in countries where Muslim is the majority religion who wear burqas but are not Muslims. In which case, the Muslims should first have something to say about that rather than be worried about three guys on TV. And if those women didn't wear burqas, it'd be easier to throw acid in their faces. [Not to mention the point of the burqa: to hide the beauty of the woman from men. Men who might otherwise become overwhelmed with lust for these women. ... Um, if your society is having problems of men being unable to control themselves, the answer is not to demand (and back up with physical force) women cover themselves. Frankly, your society doesn't even earn the label "civilised".] The point being that three guys wearing burqas is way down on the list of problems with burqas that Muslims should be having.

On the other hand, if it is not religious, then Muslims have no right to say whether anyone wears one or not.

On to the episode itself, the reason they wore the burqas was because a) it was funny, and b) it covered them up. They could have got with a more Arab Sheik look, for example, but they went for burqas. A point here to note: they did not do anything religious with the outfit, in the outfit, or even otherwise comment on the outfit, other than to say it covered them up. And it only lasted for a short time, and then they stopped. As one commenter on that news article says, they could have dressed as nuns. [But then the Christians would have gotten angry, and some of them already are with fatwa envy.] And, hey, may I point out that the people there didn't seem that bothered by the presenters being in burqas, even when it was obvious they were old white men dressed up? And I have no doubt that the producers would have done and/or shown something if it had been a problem.

As for the article, the person they quote is a "Controversial Islamic activist". Gee, I wonder if they rang such a person up expecting to get an extreme reaction out of them? Like NZ media calling on Bob McCroskie. Anonymous comments include "Death to America" (why? It's not like America was involved), "The Top Gear gang deserve to get hit by an IED [improvised explosive device]" (really, death? Hope they aren't representing the "religion of peace") and "Y the f*** r they wearing burqas!!?" (because it was funny! and no-one there cared).

Ultimately, this is largely an exercise in the media trying to get a story out of the few people who got riled up over it. No doubt the BBC will issue an apology (although no sign of this news even on their site), time will move on, and Top Gear will offend someone else, and the media will start this all over again.

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