CAIR in Florida wants the Broward County School Board to add two days off for Muslim holidays. This in the wake of their demand that a book critical of Islam be removed from a school library.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/terror-linked-cair-demands-broward-fl-schools-close-for-muslim-holidays/
"We just want to be inclusive........."
Tell that to the Coptic Christians in Egypt. Tell that to the Christians in Pakistan, Sudan, Iraq, Nigeria and Syria. Tell that to the Baha'i in Iran.
This is getting very tiresome.
Hey kid! You want two more days off from school?
"No!"
Now, let's put this in a neutral context... certain Christian holy days are school holidays... partly because they've also become secular celebrations, but also because so large a portion of the population would be off at the same time. In most districts, Jewish holidays are not general school holidays, although in New York, and perhaps in other areas with substantial Jewish populations, they are. As a child, I used to joke that Hannukah is when the Jewish kids get off early for Christmas vacation.
ReplyDeleteIt is already well established that school districts may release students from regular school time for religious devotions --- a Supreme Court ruling written by that well-known religious conservative, William O, Douglas.
But this is a claim that Muslim holy days should be made school holidays for everyone. Is that necessary? Not particularly. If, in any given district, Muslim children are a sufficient portion of the school census, as Jewish students are in some areas of NYC, then it might make sense.
Otherwise, Muslim students can be released at relevant times, with arrangements to make up missed work, no zeros or detention since it would be an approved absence.
In Milwaukee, there is a modest Muslim minority, enough to maintain an Islamic center on the south side. I overheard two secretaries at a company where I sometimes work seasonally talking about the Muslim kids at one of their son's school had gone out for pizza on the day after Ramadan. Her son said it wasn't fair he didn't get to go too. Mom said, you haven't been fasting all day for the last month.
So, what's the right thing to do depends on the circumstances, but let's keep it cool. Whether kids in Florida are released for religious observances certainly should depend on whether a mob in southern Egypt burned down a Coptic Church. I mean, there is an Ammadiyah center on the north side in Milwaukee, and they aren't threatening to burn the peaceful Islamic Center just because some Salafists in Pakistan burned an Ammadiyah mosque there.