Just don't annoy the American's and you shouldn't have any issues, you know you've hit a raw nerve (and are probably right) when you get banned, and theres some particularly nasty old 'dogs who take freedom of speech as a very one sided proposition. Haven't seen any of them in a while however.
Our politicians can't even figure out what they want to offer the nation in an election, so I can't see any of them having the clout to actually take a stance on this issue. It will probably take a serious terrorist attack on our soil to see any proper action taken.
The issue we have is that we have been reasonably lucky so far, and awareness in our nation is generally much much lower than in other places.
I agree with you 100% though, its horrible double standards all based upon the politically correct mantra and religious freedom garbage.
There is however no point trying to actively argue the sides to the arguement, all you end up with is pushing everyone to the extremes, and lets be honest generally those who think its a 'right' to wear one don't have far to go.
Simply put I think its a reflection on western standards that we don't cover our faces, as an act of honesty, trust and society and I think we should maintain our values because I can tell you from experience few countries are as good as Australia, and once its gone its gone for good.
It comes down to the point that people should be allowed to wear what is decent (no nudity, and obviously not too much concealment) and you should be safe to do so wherever you live (from attack, recrimination, or sexual assault). It is already something slipping out of our grasp too.
Try going too many of the middle eastern nations and breaking the laws their religion has placed on society, you'll be lucky to escape with your life, let alone your freedom.
The difference is their society protects itself because its had to deal with threats for a long period of time, ours hasn't had to be nearly as resilient as it is younger and far more secluded. We'll either learn to protect it pretty quickly or we'll lose it.
I think we should have a referendum without the usual minority group bleeding heart do-gooder crap, and politically correct bleeting and let true democracy make the real decision. That way they can accuse us of being a bunch of red neck racists, but at least we know we are the majority
