The burqa and niqab debate

[Rath]

ironman said:

Rath said:

@ironman. Freedom of religion is considered a fundamental right and even (I believe) enshrined in your constitution =P.

And sorry for being snippy, I didn't mean to be, I was honestly confused by your post as I couldn't see the relevance.
But I do stand by my statement that the constitution isn't absolute =P. For something to be absolute I think it has to be both immutable and universal - you could argue that the laws of logic are absolute or the laws of physics, but not a constitution.

Yes, freedom of religion is a fundamental right, but that freedom ends where the constitution picks up. One example, is polygamy, it is against the law here even though it is a religion. Also, what if there were a religion that required human sacrifices? We would outlaw the human sacrifices, but not the religion itself. Religion is NOT above the law of the land. That is the distinction I was trying to make.  

I'd consider the freedom of religion to end where the other fundamental rights pick up. However its a small distinction as a many of those rights are enshrined somewhere in the US constitution anyway =P.

Thats exactly what WoW was saying actually, the rights of freedom of religion end at the point where they infringe on other peoples rights.

Although I'm not sure the polygamy example is a great one. Its a moral objection from your culture that has caused it to be made illegal in a state by state basis I think. I don't see how allowing people to commit polygamy would compromise any fundamental rights really.