Muslim Friday Prayer at Valley Park
The amount of bigotry and hatred I see in the comments regarding the whole Valley Park Middle School issue, of some people calling themselves Canadians here is shocking...
How about a logical, straight to the point and simple approach to this:
1. I am a principal of a public school (i.e. funded by the property taxes of the surrounding community) which happens to have a majority of students from religion ABC.
2. I am responsible towards said community for the safety and freedom of their children.
3. Religion ABC REQUIRES (not optional) performing a single prayer ONCE A WEEK that takes under an hour (for those who lack basic logic: that means the majority of my students MUST perform said prayer, even if it means having to leave school grounds to do so).
4. (regarding the comments regarding the "format" with which seating or performance of the prayer in question: no one from a different religion tells people in a Hindu ceremony or a Christian sermon how to set it up)
5. Logic says "well, if the ideal way to guarantee the safety of THE MAJORITY of my students is to let them perform said prayer within school grounds, why not?"
If you disagree with the simplicity of the logic itself, then we can discuss this further.
On the other hand, if your problem is purely based on replacing "ABC" with "Islam"... then you're not the kind of person worth having a discussion with.
On a final note: the school system already discriminates against all religions other than Judaism and Christianity simply by making the no-class days Saturdays and Sundays, the days said two religions perform their weekly group-prayers on. So really, this is a very tiny form of justice.
How about a logical, straight to the point and simple approach to this:
1. I am a principal of a public school (i.e. funded by the property taxes of the surrounding community) which happens to have a majority of students from religion ABC.
2. I am responsible towards said community for the safety and freedom of their children.
3. Religion ABC REQUIRES (not optional) performing a single prayer ONCE A WEEK that takes under an hour (for those who lack basic logic: that means the majority of my students MUST perform said prayer, even if it means having to leave school grounds to do so).
4. (regarding the comments regarding the "format" with which seating or performance of the prayer in question: no one from a different religion tells people in a Hindu ceremony or a Christian sermon how to set it up)
5. Logic says "well, if the ideal way to guarantee the safety of THE MAJORITY of my students is to let them perform said prayer within school grounds, why not?"
If you disagree with the simplicity of the logic itself, then we can discuss this further.
On the other hand, if your problem is purely based on replacing "ABC" with "Islam"... then you're not the kind of person worth having a discussion with.
On a final note: the school system already discriminates against all religions other than Judaism and Christianity simply by making the no-class days Saturdays and Sundays, the days said two religions perform their weekly group-prayers on. So really, this is a very tiny form of justice.
posted by The One at 9:38 AM
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