PROVO — Tensions between Islamic and "Western" values in Europe are on the rise as security concerns conflict with principles of religious freedom.
David M. Kirkham, who spoke at BYU last week, studies these clashes as a senior fellow for comparative law and international policy at BYU Law School's International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS). Tensions can range from a nation disbanding a political party to something as simple as showing sensitivity by putting quotes around the word "Western."
Kirkham was speaking on May 4 during the center's Religious Freedom Discussion Series. In framing the issue of Islamic and "Western" values, he said that using the term "Western" isn't really accurate because there are third generation Muslims living in the West. Many Muslims are Westerners. But, lacking a better term, he compromised and used it with quotes.
Clashes, however, are sometimes much bigger than choosing the right words. For example, France recently enacted a burqa ban — prohibiting anyone from wearing in public the full-body-covering dress Muslim women sometimes wear that completely covers the face and leaves only a screen mesh slot for the eyes.
The ban's language, however, doesn't sound like it is against Muslims, it merely prohibits wearing "an article of clothing which obscures the face." But even though it doesn't mention the burqa — that is the target.
Kirkham said conservatives in France argued for the ban because burqas decrease security by hiding faces of people who may be committing crimes and the like. Liberals argued that the burqa is a violation of women's civil rights — that without the ban Muslim women are forced to wear it against their will. Some Muslims argued for the freedom to wear the burqa as a religious duty. Others said they wore it because they wanted to for God and modesty.
"It comes down to an age-old debate between freedom and security," Kirham said.
Kirkham traced the ratcheting of tension to several events over the last decade. First there was the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who made a film that said Muslim women were treated poorly. Then, in 2005, there were bombings in London. Add to this mix the 2005 Danish Cartoon Crisis, where cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed led to riots and protests by Muslims across the world.
This cartoon crisis pitted "Western" values of freedom of expression against things Muslims considered sacred. It also illustrates why Muslims are pushing to make anti-defamation part of human rights with a United Nations resolution — a desire to make it illegal under international law to defame another person's religion.
"As a Latter-day Saint there is something that feels kind of good about that," Kirkham said. "'Jimmer Fredette scored from the free-throw line against Utah and that gives all the bloggers an opportunity to say how evil the Mormons are. You get tired of that. So you can see why someone doesn't want their religion defamed. But the price you pay for that from a 'Western' point of view, from my point of view is just way too much."
As values have clashed, Muslims have paid the price in the European Court of Human Rights. The court, Kirkham said, is part of the Council of Europe — 47 nations with about 800 million citizens. The purpose of the court is for individuals to bring action against nations that have violated their human rights. "In early cases Muslims did well," Kirkham said.
Not as well today.
Take the case Leyla Sahin vs. Turkey — the "headscarf case." Sahin was a student at a university in Turkey and was kicked out of class and not allowed to graduate because she refused to take off her hijab, a headscarf that left her whole face visible and a religious expression of modesty. Turkey's secular goal was, at the time, to avoid outward religious expression that might lead to extremism. By the time the case got to the European Court of Human Rights, Turkey's government had changed and was no longer opposed to students wearing the scarf. Turkey put on almost no defense of its earlier actions against Sahin.
Sahin lost the case anyway. Turkey won a case they didn't want to win.
Then was the case of Refah Partisi and the ECHR. Refah Partisi was a pro-Islam political party in Turkey that Kirkham said wanted to end secularism in Turkey. Turkey banned the party. "What if the GOP split and they decided to outlaw the Tea Party? Scandalous. We would never stand for it," Kirkham said.
The European Court of Human Rights however did not opposed the banning — basically giving the country the benefit of the doubt.
Kirkham recognized that there are no easy solutions to the tensions between secular society and people with strong religious values such as Islam. "If you are standing where we are, both promoting religious freedom and at the same time promoting human rights and democratic values in general, you can't just go away and take one side or the other."
Tensions also occur in the United States. Look at the pastor who burned the Koran and the controversy over building an Islamic community center near ground zero in New York.
"Where do you come down on such things?" Kirkham asked. "You have to really make sure you consider security implications, but also certainly the fundamental rights for all peoples — including, and maybe especially Muslims because their rights are under so much threat right now. We need to look at them all as children of God."
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Michael De Groote Michael De Groote @degroote mdegroote@deseretnews.com