Fox News reports that a Dutch Lawmaker wants to jail women for wearing a burqa:

“The burqa and niqab are a symbol of oppression of women,” Wilders told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He said burqas and the niqab — a full-faced veil with only a slit for the eyes — hindered integration of Muslim women into Dutch society and also posed a security risk.

I get the failure-to-integrate angle. But to oppress women because they’re wearing a symbol of oppression? This seems a little counter-intuitive to me.

If someone choose to wear a burqa, I will likely pity them and on a good day pray for their soul. But jail a woman for wearing a burqa? She could be under greater punishment than the Dutch will bring to bear on her.

In the same way that a flag-burner shows to me his contempt for our country, a burqa-wearer will bring to mind various things about Muslim women. I would rather know the state of these people by their own actions than have the government force them to lie.