General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Muslim Woman Sues Police For Forcing Her To Remove Hijab [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,062 posts)and I don't challenge that for him the quran is the only thing that matters, and that for him wearing a hijab is cultural.
But when he insists that there is only one universal set of religious practices among all Muslims (there is the quran and nothing esle), and I know that is not true because I have educated myself on that issue, it is perfectly appropriate to suggest he educate himself about the variety of practices I have personally encountered. Being one community of any religion doesn't inherently mean you know everything about what every variation of that religion believes.
As for telling someone their sincerely held religious beliefs, and the outward manifestation of those beliefs, is cultural - no, you don't have that right. Religious beliefs are very personal. While most faiths have some basic tenets - the degree to which those are followed by individual practitioners (or different sects) varies tremendously. Variation does not transform the practices from religious to cultural. And religious practices vary as to the source of the restriction. Some are top-down (the Catholic Church is one). Others are bottom up - Quakers fall in that category. No one in my church stops me from taking an oath - but it is very much for religious reasons that I do not take an oath. That does't make it cultural rather than religious.
There are restrictions imposed on the free expression of religion when there is a compelling reason to impose restrictions. Many, many people in my own faith have been jailed rather than consent to those restrictions - particularly in the area of conscientious objection to military service - challenges which ultimately resulted in changing the law. When challenged on a constitutional bass, many restrictions initially imposed fail - and with respect to covering, the ACLU is currently winning favorable settlements - I suspect in large part because these jurisdictions are hearing form their attorneys that this is not a battle they should be picking.