Woman's head covering....

Asalam Alaikum,

Let me try and answer that from someone from a different perspective...

Nuns are not very populated here... not that many left... Catholic church cannot recruit nuns and priests... life has changed here. Alot of people hardly ever see a nun here so the comparison does not hold alot of sway.

People see that one chooses to be a nun or a monk at an older age... and you go through years of training before being accepted. (Yes one can be rejected.) And it is a Catholic thing� not from all Christian denominations.

I think that people view the hijab, less in US then in Europe as a symbol of "otherness." People all over the world have issues of "otherness." I know people who live in Pakistan or having traveled there where the folks don't like you to wear any other clothes by Shawal Kameez.  Not just for its modesty.. but more cultural. So conformity is expected.

I think this is true all over.. people expect some level of conformity, or shall I say are comforted by it. You get less of an issue in a large, diverse place like in Wash DC area. Cause how does one define �conformity?� But you head into  other areas� and people are often unsure about �different� people. Then you have these �different� people separate themselves for cultural and religious reasons.. and then well� people feel rejected.

I think that it is a fine line for Muslims living in a nonMuslim world. Because we should support our communities and yet much of the community is �corrupt.� Say for instance in a smaller town the local �fun� is playing Bingo on a Wednesday night (yes I grew up in smaller town USA). Well Muslims won�t do that.. so� how do they begin to socialize and get to know their neighbors?

Acceptance and rejection are fine lines. For instance, I think that for many reverts myself included, struggle enormously with the Muslim culture and the women. We often do not think like they do. We often are not accepted cause we are not Turkish, Egyptian, Pakistani etc. Who we can talk to in a general way is nonMuslims.. cause our mental processes and focuses are similar if not religiously. But here in the US, religion is considered a private matter so its not often discussed.

Plus here in US, and I am sure this may be true in Europe, people are not fond of people who tend to be �overzealous� religious people. Many people have had Evangelical Christians tell us we are off to hell for not believing in Jesus. �In your face� religion is how shall I say, not too popular. I have seen over-enthused Muslims talk to nonMuslims about �finding Allah� without knowing it really turns people off. So being so �outward� with religion can be difficult.  As once was said in a good piece in a magazine I read.. the difference between west and east so to speak is that here, religion is private and sex is public, in �east� religion is public and sex is private.

So honestly,  I don�t think it has anything to do with religion. It has to do with cultural norms. The paradigm and views are just different. So whenever I see that argument I know it won�t make much of an impact.  Yes there is �freedom of religion� so to speak. But people just want you to keep in private. Not make a big deal about it. Many people have never seen a nun or they are all older that 60.