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Posted on 08/28/2014 9:35:37 AM PDT by walford
N4T Investigators: Church and State
Tucson - It's 12:40 in the afternoon, and in the Islamic Center of Tucson, a time to pray.
Muslims have a strict daily prayer schedule, five times a day at specific times. One of those times is in the middle of the school day.
In a room off the library at Desert View High School, four to six Muslim students pray during every school day for about 10 minutes. Sunnyside Unified School District officials tell the News 4 Tucson Investigators that all but one of the students pray during their lunch period, the other misses a few minutes of a class.
Community activist Richard Hernandez doesn't have a problem with allowing prayer, but with how the administration handled it.
"They failed to let the community know what was going on," Hernandez said. He thinks the the district should've told parents before-hand.
"Anything that happens to your child, it is this obligation of this school, and any school district in Pima County, to tell the parents," Hernandez said.
Our policy is very clear about allowing and accommodating this.
Sunnyside Schools Acting Superintendent Dr. Eugenia Favela told us she hasn't directly received a single complaint about allowing school prayer, she only heard about complaints second-hand. She says she didn't think a public notice sent to parents was needed to inform them that a few students were praying in a separate room. Favela was first told about the current prayer group in an email this month from a Desert View principal.
SUSD's Freedom of Expression policy states: "Students are to be permitted to pray or engage in religious activities or expression in the same manner and to the same extent as students are permitted to engage in non-religious activities or expression, before, during and after the school day."
Favela told the News 4 Tucson Investigators, "Our policy is very clear about allowing and accommodating this. It is not a violation in the sense that we are not promoting it. It would be a violation of church and state issues if we were promoting these views."
There has been significant confusion and misinformation about prayer in schools; some people think it's not allowed. That's partly because the Supreme Court in 1962 ruled that official prayer had no place in public education. But the Court did not rule that students are forbidden to pray on their own, it removed only government or school-sponsored prayer.
Alex Luchenitser is an Associate Legal Director with Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. He says,"The separation of church and state prohibits schools from promoting religion. This probably does not present any constitutional problem as long as the same accommodation would be given to any other religion."
Dr. Favela says if any students wanted to have a group of non-religious activity, the district would need to accommodate them. She says if any parent has a question about the praying going on at Desert View, she'd be happy to answer them, just contact her office.
Remember if you have a story you'd like us to investigate, email us at investigators @kvoa.com, or call our tip line, 520-955-4444.
I get it. Pledge of Allegiance out, praying to Allah in.
Tucson has to import their Muslims.
Another Reason to Homeschool
ARTH
Isn't setting a room aside in the library promoting the opportunity for muslims to gather and pray?
This is how the political correctness helps institute sharia
Not all Muslims, in fact a large majority - do NOT pray 5 times per day. yet the accommodation is made for the most stringent and orthodox among them?
"There are countries in the world, mainly in Europe, that are presently undergoing significant cultural transformations as a result of Muslim immigration. France, Germany, Belgium and Holland are interesting examples of cases where immigration from Muslim countries, together with the Muslims’ high fertility rate, effects every area of life.
It is interesting to know that there is a country in the world whose official and public approach to the Muslim matter is totally different. This country is Japan. This country keeps a very low profile on all levels regarding the Muslim matter: On the diplomatic level, senior political figures from Islamic countries almost never visit Japan, and Japanese leaders rarely visit Muslim countries. The relations with Muslim countries are based on concerns such as oil and gas, which Japan imports from some Muslim countries. The official policy of Japan is not to give citizenship to Muslims who come to Japan, and even permits for permanent residency are given sparingly to Muslims.
Japan forbids exhorting people to adopt the religion of Islam (Dawah), and any Muslim who actively encourages conversion to Islam is seen as proselytizing to a foreign and undesirable culture. Few academic institutions teach the Arabic language. It is very difficult to import books of the Qur’an to Japan, and Muslims who come to Japan, are usually employees of foreign companies. In Japan there are very few mosques. The official policy of the Japanese authorities is to make every effort not to allow entry to Muslims, even if they are physicians, engineers and managers sent by foreign companies that are active in the region. Japanese society expects Muslim men to pray at home.
Japanese companies seeking foreign workers specifically note that they are not interested in Muslim workers. And any Muslim who does manage to enter Japan will find it very difficult to rent an apartment. Anywhere a Muslim lives, the neighbors become uneasy. Japan forbids the establishment of Islamic organizations, so setting up Islamic institutions such as mosques and schools is almost impossible. In Tokyo there is only one imam.
In contrast with what is happening in Europe, very few Japanese are drawn to Islam. If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim, she will be considered an outcast by her social and familial environment. There is no application of Shari’a law in Japan. There is some food in Japan that is halal, kosher according to Islamic law, but it is not easy to find it in the supermarket."
But if they can pray then why can’t Chrisitan children gather to pray?
SOTUS case?
I thought the liberals won already and school prayer was out?
SCOTUS case?
Interesting.
The Japanese are for cultural unity. They know ethnic, religious, and social differences lead to conflict. Does it work? Well - did you see the photos of people quietly lined up for their allotments of drinking water immediately after the Fukushima Earthquake? Did you hear about robbing, looting? Any deaths from disease? Starvation? Freezing?
Everyone, Left, Right and Center wants to declare japan will “die” because their population is decreasing and they refuse to import masses of foreign workers, to supposedly take the jobs elderly Japanese can no longer do.
I say rubbish - Japan will be around long after America and Western Europe are gone.
Where are all the “separation of church & state” extremists on this??????
Christians don’t behead you for opposing their prayers in school.
Cowering in fear.
Yet, saying, “Bless you”, results in suspension, Christmas has been declared Winter Break and Easter, Good Friday and Easter Monday are not allowed to be uttered.
Look for pork products to be banned from American children’s lunches.
love the bumper sticker!!
Heh, CW-II’s not looking that radical anymore, is it?
Those who implement it - in the Administration, in Congress, and throughout the permanent federal bureaucracy - are traitors.
The msot interesting paragraph from the article
“Japan is teaching the whole world an interesting lesson: there is a direct correlation between national heritage and permission to immigrate: a people that has a solid and clear national heritage and identity will not allow the unemployed of the world to enter its country; and a people whose cultural heritage and national identity is weak and fragile, has no defense mechanisms to prevent a foreign culture from penetrating into its country and its land.”
Gee,I wonder which example applies to us?
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