David has made an excellent point

Submitted by Boris (United States), Aug 25, 2005 at 19:29

Indeed, how many muslims would agree with Sultan's statement "Before being muslim or jew or hindu we are all human beings." ? If most of them would, they should also agree with the derived statement "that the laws protecting us as human beings have priority to any of the religious laws". In other words, if secular laws of the land contradict religious laws, the former still have priority. This is because secular laws are applied to all human beings living in the country regardless of their race, religion or wealth.

For example, a muslim woman in the USA who insisted in taking her picture for the driver license with her face completely covered, except her eyes, obviously disagrees with the fact that she is a human being first and a muslim second. If obeying a muslim law is more important to her, she should rather give up her right to obtain a driver license than insist in changing a law of the land. What if my religion prohibits me to take off my shoes in public? Should I insist in changing security regulations in the airport or just give up my right to fly? Since I am human being first, the answer is pretty obvious...

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