I do not at all have the mind of a bully... in my mind bullies are intolerant of contrary opinion domineering and rather cowardly. I would hope that none of those terms could be fairly used in describing me.
Religion was used as an ideology as a system of control. When they forced the veil upon women they were using it as an instrument of control in the same way that in Mao's China people were wearing Mao jackets and women were not supposed to wear any makeup.