Is a burqa ban obscene?

In a comment to a post on the burqa ban in Switzerland, Chris Weston states that such a ban is obscene.

My thoughts on this:

There used to be (and maybe still are) tribes whose culture was to eat humans. You would not allow them to open a specialty restaurant in your country just because it is their culture.

This extreme example shows that it does not help the argument to simply point to cultural differences. It does not help much to move the argument to the definition of obscene either.

Many people would characterize a cultural practice as obscene which forces only the females to cover themselves with a black sack. This "dress" deprives the women of most sensory input, makes communication impossible, and creates a barrier to all human contact outside their immediate family.

Having said that, civilizations, empires and cultures rise and fall as surely as the sun is rising and setting every day. Western culture will be replaced with something else. That is an absolute certainty. No ban of anything will change that.