Why should those who are not Muslim be forced to submit to Muslim dress requirements in order not to demonize Muslims? Especially when such requirements are sexist and oppressive? Do we turn blind eyes to clitoridectomies and honor killings next? How about the stoning of homosexuals? Or the conversion at swordpoint of infidels, and the execution of those who forsake the faith?

Should the British have ignored ritual strangulation in order not to offend the religious sensibilities of the Thuggees?

In India, the British Raj banned suttees, where the widow is forcibly thrown onto the burning funeral pyre of her deceased husband, so she could continue to serve him in the afterlife. Hindi clerics objected that it was one of their religious traditions. To which the British governor answered that it was a British tradition to summarily execute murderers, and if Hindus felt constrained to follow their traditions, the British felt no less constrained to follow theirs.

Such British backbone in the service of righteouus causes seems to regrettably be a rare thing these days.

The rainments of religion should never be allowed to cloak the perpetration of oppression. If we cannot stand for these cherished values, what values worth our allegiance do we have left?