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Controversy erupts after school offers Muslims special room (1 Viewer)

F

FallingPianos

Controversy erupts after school offers Muslims special room
October 26, 2006 12:47 EDT

MASON, Ohio (AP) -- Northeast of Cincinnati, school officials in Mason have taken some heat after two Muslim boys were offered a separate room during the lunch hour.

Superintendent Kevin Bright says it was a "fasting room." He says their parents didn't want the two high school students to have to watch classmates eat while they were fasting for Ramadan.

But school board member Jennifer Miller calls it a "prayer room." At a board meeting earlier this week, she protested, saying America is a Christian nation, not a Muslim nation.
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the last part of the quote is what is so ironic about this. Miller seems to have completely missed the point of seperation of Church and State.
 
Allowing two young men to occupy an unused classroom during their lunch period is not unreasonable, as long as they are behaving in an orderly fashion. Whether they're studying, playing chess, or praying is utterly irrelevant.

Never seen a law saying that students cannot pray in school, only that they cannot lead others in prayer.
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
Allowing two young men to occupy an unused classroom during their lunch period is not unreasonable, as long as they are behaving in an orderly fashion. Whether they're studying, playing chess, or praying is utterly irrelevant.

Never seen a law saying that students cannot pray in school, only that they cannot lead others in prayer.
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I agree. I just find the reasoning behind Millers objection to be way off.
 
I knew a Kurd who worked at the same federal agency I did, and he cut a deal where he could use his coffee breaks for mid-day prayers in his office space. It didn't inconvenience anyone else, and was no big deal. A lot of the separation of church and state nonsense seems to come from people with too much time on their hands.
 
Seperation of Church and state is an important concept. However, it should be used in places that matter with issues that are important. Some kids praying in a room during lunchtime infringes on nobody elses rights. Let them do it.


Of course the utter hipocrsy of the school board member is entertaining. She is a good example of those who claim religous freedoms are being supressed only mean christian ones.
 
I see much ado about nothing in this case. The request is reasonable and no one is inconvenienced. The school board member doesn't seem to understand the particulars of separation of church and state.

I will say though that many universities provide private areas for Muslim students. Moreover, these areas of seclusion are segregated by gender. I do have a problem with this, as religion seems to be the determinate factor. Rather than being simply accomodating, it conjurs religious elitism.
 
star2589 said:
the last part of the quote is what is so ironic about this. Miller seems to have completely missed the point of seperation of Church and State.
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They're not disrupting the class nor recruiting, so I don't see the problem.
 
Jerry said:
They're not disrupting the class nor recruiting, so I don't see the problem.
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The problem I saw was with Miller. it sounds like she would have gladly allowed a christian group to do the exact same thing, but she wouldnt let muslims sinse "we are a christian nation, not a muslim nation."
 
star2589 said:
The problem I saw was with Miller. it sounds like she would have gladly allowed a christian group to do the exact same thing, but she wouldnt let muslims sinse "we are a christian nation, not a muslim nation."
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She's a fruitcake.

I could ripe her view apart, but I just don't think she's worth the time.
 
Well I was going to reply but my wife asked me not to post what I was going to say. So I'll leave it up to you imagine what I was going to say......;)
 
star2589 said:
the last part of the quote is what is so ironic about this. Miller seems to have completely missed the point of seperation of Church and State.
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I tend to be against this special treatment based on a religious ritual. Kids go to school on time, they shut up when class is in session, they go to the lunchroom when the bell rings, none of it based on any religious reason or not based on any religious reason.

Any of the kids can pray, fast, and believe in God anytime during the school day as long as classes aren't disrupted, and nobody gets special treatment. I'm against this for Muslims, Jews, Christians, and those of all other religions.
 
cherokee said:
Well I was going to reply but my wife asked me not to post what I was going to say. So I'll leave it up to you imagine what I was going to say......;)
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oh c'mon, now you have to tell us.

please?
 
Korimyr the Rat said:
Allowing two young men to occupy an unused classroom during their lunch period is not unreasonable, as long as they are behaving in an orderly fashion. Whether they're studying, playing chess, or praying is utterly irrelevant.

Never seen a law saying that students cannot pray in school, only that they cannot lead others in prayer.
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I agree. They were not hosting a terrorist recruting session in that room; therefore, there really is no issue.

Some people, like Jennifer Miller, just need to stop hatemongering by proxy.
 
Oh come on, is this entire thread just about us agreeing on how stupid Jennifer Miller is? Of course she's stupid, and you know what? She's not the only stupid person out there either... but we don't have enough room on this forum to list them all. So let's debate something!

Allow me to play devil's advocate:
The problem I see with this situation is that by allowing this they are sort of catering to student's based on their religious believes.... the problem of course (as slippery a slope as it may sound) is what happens when Christians (as a mass) take up actually giving up something like eating for Lent... then do we allow them a seperate room to sit in while the muslims and athiests etc eat their food? The problem with allowing this request is that it would make things very sticky if the other religion decided they wanted equal treatment with the same treatment.
 
sebastiansdreams said:
Oh come on, is this entire thread just about us agreeing on how stupid Jennifer Miller is? Of course she's stupid, and you know what? She's not the only stupid person out there either... but we don't have enough room on this forum to list them all. So let's debate something!

Allow me to play devil's advocate:
The problem I see with this situation is that by allowing this they are sort of catering to student's based on their religious believes.... the problem of course (as slippery a slope as it may sound) is what happens when Christians (as a mass) take up actually giving up something like eating for Lent... then do we allow them a seperate room to sit in while the muslims and athiests etc eat their food? The problem with allowing this request is that it would make things very sticky if the other religion decided they wanted equal treatment with the same treatment.
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You make a good point. I can see your side of the issue and I can, likewise, see how the situation could go from zero to butt-ugly in 2.5 seconds.

I suppose the christian students could hang out in the Gymnasium or leave campus for the duration of their lunch periods; however, I am sure suitable accomidations can be made.
 
As long as their religious beliefs do not interfere with their work, it's fine by me that they pray whenever they like.
 
The Wishmaster said:
As long as their religious beliefs do not interfere with their work, it's fine by me that they pray whenever they like.
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You're right. And they can pray whenever they like. Some here say that prayer and God are being removed from public schools, but it isn't true.
 
Vader said:
You make a good point. I can see your side of the issue and I can, likewise, see how the situation could go from zero to butt-ugly in 2.5 seconds.

I suppose the christian students could hang out in the Gymnasium or leave campus for the duration of their lunch periods; however, I am sure suitable accomidations can be made.
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I agree - a large majority is always harder to accomidate than a small minority, but it's possible. I suppose that the Christians would have to be allowed to go hang out in empty areas as long as it doesn't disrupt others.

I see no problem with prayer in school, as long as no one tries to force others into it.
 
Thales said:
I agree - a large majority is always harder to accomidate than a small minority, but it's possible. I suppose that the Christians would have to be allowed to go hang out in empty areas as long as it doesn't disrupt others.

I see no problem with prayer in school, as long as no one tries to force others into it.
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Right-no problem with prayer in school. If a kid wants to pray before eating, he can bow his head and pray. Everybody has that right.

But schools need to stay away from separating kids from each other based on their religious beliefs. School is not church. All the kids need to go to lunch when told, and go back to class when told.
 
Religion is personal. Keep it in the minds of those that serve it, and in the buildings of those that profit from it.

Religion has no place outside of the mind it controls or the asylum it harbors.
 
what the school did is the exact opposite of what should happen. kids of different religions should not be excluded but instead welcomed.
 
This is no big deal. But the seperation of Church and State is a joke. There are schools that let churches worship in them untill they get the church built. Then we have voting booths at churches. Then the president says "fly flags at half staff"for some reason and churches do it and private schools do it. I wouldn't do it if I was in charge of one of those places.
 
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