Tony Atkinson
2 min readAug 14, 2024

--

The basic issues are this:

Religion in the West is regarded as a lifestyle choice.To be a Christian or a Muslim is not different form being a vegan or a Goth. It affects the way you dress (at home and in leisure time), your social circle, what you do and don't eat or drink and who you date. It should not impinge upon your work life. Christians are supposed to fast during Lent (which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends ar the beginning of the Easter Vigil on the evening of Holy Saturday), but working people found this difficult and their bosses didn't like the drop in productivity. So the custom changed from fasting to 'giving somethng up', some small treat or pleasure such as sweets, beer or bingo was relinquished for the necessary forty days. Unfortunately, far too many Muslims in the west conrinue to fast. I have worked with many such: they eat before dawn, come into the office to work, around noon their blood sugar hits the floor and everyone who isn't a Muslim has to spend the afternoon covering for them. You might consider doing what the Christians do.

In the West, religious rules are overridden by the secular law of the land. If you flout the secular law, for example in matters of women's or LGBRQ+ rights, you can be prosecuted for it and your relgious beliefs will not be a defence.

Finally, unless you're a superhero, there is no honest reason for covering your face. Most of us are unhappy having dealings with someone when we can't see their face, they won't look you in the eye and they murmur instead of speaking up.

--

--

Tony Atkinson
Tony Atkinson

Written by Tony Atkinson

Snapper-up of unconsidered trifles, walker of paths less travelled by. Writer of fanfiction. Player of games. argonaut57@gmail.com

No responses yet