Islam is at the foundation of a new debate in Germany that involves Christmas and Kris Kringle himself. After proposing a ban on burqas in public, federal interior minister Thomas de Maiziere now has leftists in the country proposing a ban on Santa Claus in retaliation, according to reports.
“We agree that we reject the burqa, we agree that we want to introduce a legal requirement to show one’s face in places where it is necessary for our society’s coexistence – at the wheel, at public offices, at the registry office, in schools and universities, in the civil service, in court,” Maiziere said.
He also went on to say that the full face veil “does not belong in our cosmopolitan country. We want to show our faces to each other and that is why we agree that we reject this — the question is how we put this into law.”
Ralf Jäger, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state who is against banning the burqa, argued that if the veil were banned for security reasons, then Santa Claus costumes would also need to be banned. If one item is banned for religious reasons, then all religious clothing would need to be banned he said.
“A burqa ban brings no security, but (is driven) only by election campaigns in some states,” he said.