First it was Fred Nile claiming women dressed like the Virgin Mary was a security hazard. Then Bronwyn Bishop and one of her Victorian colleagues claimed such women should be made to take part of their gear off before entering state-funded schools.
Now a National Party MP from across the Tasman has made the following erudite observation …I do have a bit of a problem with Islam religion-type people wearing scarves
and burqas around the place. I think people should fit into the
country.
Bob Clarkson’s comments clearly aren’t based on facts. Only a minority of Muslim women on either side of the Tasman wear the hijab (head scarf). None are known to wear the Afghan-style tent-like burqa.
I’d love to see Clarkson tell the new head-honchess of North American Muslims, Professor Ingrid Mattson, that she needs to fit in. Or perhaps he could tell that to the women who’ll be gathering with Pru Goward this Friday to launch the National Muslim Women’s Conference.
But it gets better. Clarkson has now compared homosexuality to … wait for it … picking your nose in public.If you walk up and down the street picking your nose, you're a bit
different, aren't you? You're going to offend somebody. Do it in your home if
you want to … Take that gay parade. They flaunted themselves out there that
they're all different than us, and to a certain extent, in my mind, they're
trying to make out that we should be the same as them.
Funny, ‘cause I always thought our Kiwi cousins were a little more tolerant, sensitive and new-age about this kind of stuff. I mean, mouthing off against gays is the kind of thing you’d expect from middle-aged blokes righteous enough to cast the first stone.
Clarkson’s comments have caused a furore in Kiwistan, with PM Helen Clarke claiming the remarks are typical of National Party “prejudice” toward minorities. Clarkson, however, has defended himself.I'll put it this way: I'm very happy that I was born in 1939 in Gisborne as
a male and I've stayed that way all my life.
Methinks he should stay there (i.e. the 1930’s) where he belongs.
© Irfan Yusuf 2006
