Welcome to my first post. I'm rather excited about it.

I've been thinking about the veil this week, ever since the French government banned it. The Koran prescribes modest dress for both sexes, but doesn't mention any specific item of dress. In my research on the ancient Middle East (from over a millennium before Islam), I found that people started to conceal more and more of their bodies over the centuries. Women always covered more of their bodies than men did. So when the appropriate garment for a man was a short kilt, a woman would have to wear a longer skirt. When men began to wear some kind of shirt, women had to cover their breasts and shoulders.

I'm puzzled by the French Muslim women who insist on wearing the niqab, or full face veil. France has a history of oppressing its Muslim minority, so I can understand why the women are in rebellion. But when I last went to the DMV to get a driver's license, the clerk took my picture in front of anyone who happened to be walking by. If I get pulled over for an infraction, the cop is going to want to see if I look like the photo on the driver's license. I don't sign my credit cards--on the back I write "see driver's license"--so shop clerks look at the license and at me, to make sure I haven't stolen the card. I can't walk into a bank with my face covered. How are those Muslim women going to drive or conduct business?

Of course, in Saudi Arabia women aren't allowed to drive, and they have segregated banks where they can remove their veils and be served by female tellers. If the French government wanted to be reasonable, they might allow the niqab in the public street, but forbid it while driving, banking, or paying by credit card.