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U.S. to defend Muslim girl wearing scarf in school
CNN Washington Bureau ^ | 03/30/04 | Terry Frieden

Posted on 03/30/2004 7:21:30 PM PST by coffeebreak

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Justice Department announced Tuesday the government's civil rights lawyers have jumped into a legal case to support a Muslim girl's right to wear a head scarf in a public school.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Alex Acosta said government lawyers would support 11-year-old Nashala Hearn, a sixth-grade student who has sued the Muskogee, Oklahoma, Public School District for ordering her to remove her head scarf, or hijab, because it violated the dress code of the Benjamin Franklin Science Academy, which she attended.

The girl continued to wear her hijab to school and was subsequently suspended twice for doing so. The family appealed the suspensions, which were upheld by a district administrative hearing committee.

Her parents filed suit against the Muskogee School District last October.

On Tuesday the federal government filed a motion in a federal court in Muskogee to intervene in support of Nashala's position.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; US: Oklahoma
KEYWORDS: bigotsrus; civilrights; doj; dresscode; hijab; lawsuit; muslimamericans; muslimstudents; muslimwomen; religiousfreedom
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To: William Martel
For one --- if she doesn't wear it, they'll just as likely shoot her --- so it's not really for modesty that she's wearing it but fear for her life.
241 posted on 03/31/2004 11:11:48 PM PST by FITZ
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To: William Martel
LOL... now THAT warms my heart!

:-) I used to have that very issue, until one day I sold it to a dealer for I believe $5. I came back a few weeks later and he had it in a glass case on sale for $50--ROFL!

242 posted on 03/31/2004 11:11:53 PM PST by Fedora
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To: Fedora
That's the way it ALWAYS works. But, look on the bright side - at least your mom didn't give it away for $0.10 in the same manner my grandma gave away all my dad's classic comic books...
243 posted on 03/31/2004 11:17:30 PM PST by William Martel
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To: William Martel
That's the way it ALWAYS works. But, look on the bright side - at least your mom didn't give it away for $0.10 in the same manner my grandma gave away all my dad's classic comic books...

Argh! :) The same thing happened to my uncle: my grandma gave away his 1940s-1950s comics while he was in Vietnam. I've only met one guy who managed to keep his old comics--owned every issue of Batman back to the beginning (!).

244 posted on 04/01/2004 12:09:56 AM PST by Fedora
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To: Fedora
I've only met one guy who managed to keep his old comics--owned every issue of Batman back to the beginning (!).

Now that's pure luck (or a load of hogwash if I ever heard it... nah, I suppose I'll believe you)!

245 posted on 04/01/2004 12:21:03 AM PST by William Martel
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To: William Martel
Now that's pure luck (or a load of hogwash if I ever heard it... nah, I suppose I'll believe you)!

LOL! Well, I was just going through his old email to me, and it looks I did unintentionally get some of the details wrong and exaggerate a little :) Here's what he actually told me about his collection:

I am the last of six kids. I was 7 years behind all of the rest. my older brothers read comics, Superman #1, Batman #1, Whiz #2, Action #1 ec comics, marvel family, Flash, ETC. They gave them to their kid brother. (ME). Well I liked them, so I just kept them. I had friends that collected also. So we had a club. When I was about 17-18 I got in a fight with my MOM about growing up and burned my collection up in our fireplace. ( DUMB MOVE.) I then found out how much it was worth. Superman #1 was worth $ 350.00 ETC. I told my Mom to stay out of my collection and started all over. I went into marvel, FF #1 , tales to astonish #73( not sure) first Thor, First Ant man, First Iron Man, Amazing fantasy #15, X-Men #1 Collected marvel for years along with DC. got tired of marvel and gave them to my nephew. Kept my DC. Been at it ever since. I have BATMAN #1, but never got the rest from when I was a kid. I go back to Superman #19. I sold Action #77 last year. I sell of my golden age now and then. I have Detective #140 & #142 up for sale right now, #140 is near mint, #142 is in vg condition. Asking $1500.00. This is why I still do it.

246 posted on 04/01/2004 12:48:50 AM PST by Fedora
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To: Fedora
My last post for the night:

I KNEW it had to be too good to be true. Still, it leads me to reflect on a funny fact about parents. For some reason, they seem to have had no problem throwing $350 comic books on the fire, but the Good Lord FORBID that I do the same with $350 of their money... go figure ;).
247 posted on 04/01/2004 1:08:20 AM PST by William Martel
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To: William Martel
Islam does not distinguish between church and state. What is religious is political, the political religious to a Muslim. He likes the freedoms of the West, of course. We do not understand our enemies properly, and, like the Europeans, desire to see good in them...not because we are gentle optimists, but because we fear to take the measures we need to take.

The Amish have their own schools.

If the KKK wanted to send an 11-yr-old to school in a hood and robe, you'd hear from the Constitutionalists in a hurry. This wouldn't be allowed, and should NOT be allowed. But a Klansman will also tell you of his "faith." Would you fear to mock the Klansman? Why do we fear Muslims?

There's little hope in my mind that we'll recognize the danger and take proper action--which is "This is secular America, not Dar al Islam. You may come to school, but you can't wear the robe of our oppression. You can always establish your own school to teach the tenets of your cruel cult--."

248 posted on 04/01/2004 5:45:33 AM PST by Mamzelle
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Comment #249 Removed by Moderator

Comment #250 Removed by Moderator

To: coffeebreak
Are christians not allowed to wear christian clothing?
251 posted on 04/01/2004 7:12:27 AM PST by m1-lightning (God, Guns, and Country!)
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To: m1-lightning
Are christians not allowed to wear christian clothing?

But Sikhs are allowed to carry their Kirpans to school ...

252 posted on 04/01/2004 7:15:27 AM PST by cinFLA
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To: William Martel
The cultural war is with us since WWII. Socialists godless are interested in taking away god from every thing we do. I do understand their motives, however, I would never consider their tactics is "MUCH" worst than the Islamic fanatics.

Granted the American TV and popular culture have deteriorated, and our children have been indoctrinated in the socialist public schools, however, the family life can keep the Christian faith alive. Even, if the US lost its believe in God as the Western European countries did decades ago, SO WHAT! I rather live in a godless Europe, than in an Allah infested Saudi Arabia.

253 posted on 04/01/2004 8:07:18 AM PST by philosofy123
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To: Mamzelle
Let me put this into different terms. All I ask is that you hear me out to the end, as I am saying more here than "we ought to be tolerant for the sake of being tolerant". The KKK, for all intents and purposes, is a cult based on notions of racial superiority. It is already rightfully villianized and disliked throughout this country. Islam is a major worldwide religion with a little over a billion people in it. In the average American mind, that somehow translates into a level of credibility (yes, I agree, it's a leap of logic).

I understand Islam. I studied it. When I was younger and ignorant I considered converting to it. Islam is based upon the subjugation of the world and human activity to "Allah's will". While it claims some tolerance for Jews and Christians, we know full well that tolerance is absolutely minimal. It must be, by Islam's nature. The Islamic state is the true order of things in Islam. All Muslims, whether they acknowledge it or not, aim for the Islamic state, because Islam demands it. Islam views non-Muslims as abberations. We are, more or less, blemishes on God's creation.

I understand all this.

However, this being true, we cannot base all of our interactions with Muslims on these grounds. While the doctrine may be demonic, the believers are human beings. As I said before, the beliefs of Muslims are not nearly as villianized as the beliefs of the KKK. The average American is more likely to see Muslims as people "just like us, with a different ancient religion" than as the followers of a religion that seeks to subvert the entire world. One could say it is too big of a truth to have dumped on oneself all at one time! Even with 9-11 many Americans are too tolerant to jump to these conclusions.

We are in a cultural war. The left in this country is working feverishly to overthrow the instutitions that have formed the foundation of our great nation. For better or for worse, the majority of people in this country have been conditioned to the point where they will tolerate just about anything. Furthermore, the left has been masterful in painting us as fanatics who push for conformity and the elimination of anything diverse. Believe it or not, that actually pushes people away from us, even people who would be otherwise conservative! As I said in an earlier post, we are in a battle to win hearts and minds. You cannot win a battle for hearts and minds if you are busy acting in a manner that alienates the people we are trying to attract. This isn't a matter of being overly tolerant - it's a matter of using proper warfare. The time will come when national mood will be such that we can do as you suggest. Until then, it serves only to weaken us and make our enemies stronger.

Like I said before, let's also try not to forget that we are the good guys here and that, as the good guys, we must hold ourselves to higher standards.
254 posted on 04/01/2004 8:39:31 AM PST by William Martel
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To: philosofy123
I do understand their motives, however, I would never consider their tactics is "MUCH" worst than the Islamic fanatics.

I beg to disagree. Their tactics are much worse because they are more covert in enacting them and are less likely to turn opinion against themselves. I believe a point will come in these terrorist attacks where people in other countries will realize that with or without appeasement, terrorists are still going to attack. The terrorists own methods will backfire on them when that happens, and at that point they won't dare put headscarfs on their 11 year old daughters, for fear of what might happen to them. Socialists, on the other hand, operate in mild and benign language while using structures of government in such a way as to eventually control our lives. We ought to fear losing our liberty more than losing our lives (a quote from Patrick Henry comes to mind).

Even, if the US lost its believe in God as the Western European countries did decades ago, SO WHAT! I rather live in a godless Europe, than in an Allah infested Saudi Arabia.

And personally, I'd rather live in a Christian America with its freedoms than either one of those any day! Both Islamism and godless socialism are totalitarian systems meant to control every aspect of our lives in the name of doing it, "for our own good." Give me America. It's worth fighting for.

255 posted on 04/01/2004 8:51:36 AM PST by William Martel
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To: William Martel
Even, if the US lost its believe in God as the Western European countries did decades ago, SO WHAT! I rather live in a godless Europe, than in an Allah infested Saudi Arabia.

And personally, I'd rather live in a Christian America with its freedoms than either one of those any day! Both Islamism and godless socialism are totalitarian systems meant to control every aspect of our lives in the name of doing it, "for our own good." Give me America. It's worth fighting for.

REmember the USSR? Their totaliterian, godless regime did not behave low enough to blow up pizza joints, shopping centers, or train stations. They were "human beings" with worped egaliterian ideologies. We can talk to them, and they had the capicity to understand and negotiate with us. The Islamists are like retarded kids who have no capacity or will to understand or negotiate. If that retarded kid is passive, we could just simply leave him in the corner alone, but, he is an agressive/distructive kid, he must be put in a straight jacket so that he does not cause harm.

256 posted on 04/01/2004 9:07:05 AM PST by philosofy123
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To: philosofy123
REmember the USSR? Their totaliterian, godless regime did not behave low enough to blow up pizza joints, shopping centers, or train stations. They were "human beings" with worped egaliterian ideologies. We can talk to them, and they had the capicity to understand and negotiate with us. The Islamists are like retarded kids who have no capacity or will to understand or negotiate. If that retarded kid is passive, we could just simply leave him in the corner alone, but, he is an agressive/distructive kid, he must be put in a straight jacket so that he does not cause harm.

If I remember correctly, the USSR also had no problem rounding up and shooting entire villiages for failing to meet five-year-plan quotas, brutally tortured clergy with a ferocity perhaps unequaled even by the Muslims, and sent secret police to spy on their own citizens to send them off to the gulags. The Soviets might have had warped egalitarian ideologies, but it ultimately came down to a pure exertion of power. The common man in the system might actually believe in the ideology, but those at the top are attracted to the power it represented. The Soviet leaders dealt with us because power was their God and they had no power if they were dead.

Islamists are human beings too... but they are blinded by their beliefs. I've known Muslims. Honestly, I don't think they are as bad as the Soviets. They have not killed nearly as many people as godless socialism has killed in the past century. There is a key difference: Muslims, despite how warped their beliefs may be, do believe in a standard of truth higher than themselves, however misplaced it may be in some cases. That cannot be said about socialists. Ultimately, for the socialists, there is no "standard" apart from public opinion, and public opinion is whatever they shape it to be.

One last point I want to make:

At the end of World War I, the Germans thought they had good reason to believe that the Jews betrayed them and caused them to lose the war. They believed the Jews had convinved America and Britain to join France in the war, tilting the effects of the war from what would have been a peace agreement based upon a stalemate at worse to a peace agreement based upon a crushing defeat to Germany. Germany had to surrender unconditionally, and had leveled against it horrendous terms of peace, with massive reparations. That peace treaty was a gross hit on the pride of Germans, and it made for an awful standard of living. Germans allowed themselves to give into their baser emotions. They began to look at Jews as less than human in a certain sense, looking down upon them as purely materialistic beings with a sort of "spiritual retardation". Jews began to be seen as intrinsically untrustworthy. Germans bought into it. As far as they were concerned, what may or may not have been true of a few Jews was extended to the population as a whole, and we know what the ultimate result of that was.

My point is that it is inherently dangerous to villianize an entire group for the actions of a subgroup within them. The Germans thought they were justified too.

257 posted on 04/01/2004 9:34:42 AM PST by William Martel
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To: William Martel
re: Like I said before, let's also try not to forget that we are the good guys here)))

The good guys have already created, though blood and treasure, a free nation for this little girl to live in and worship as she pleases. The good guys pay the school taxes and protect the streets on which the buses travel. She may go to a US school if her parents choose, or choose another alternative, such as an Islamic school. In her native land, my Bible would be seized and burnt. If I dared to worship with my family, I'd risk assault and death. I know who the good guys are.

But the good guys do not provide, with their blood and treasure, for a display of her political/cultish/gangster garment on school property among other American children. It does not make one into a "bad guy" to want to see order maintained and a American values protected and promoted against this politcal movement. The public school is not a medium of communication like a newspaper or billboard.

I confess that several years ago I was woefully ignorant of Islam. I thought it an ascetic offshoot of Judaism, due to the similarity of dietary laws. I found some of the tradtions even rather charming--and, of course, I was impressed with the outward signs of religious devotion.

But I have read much recently-- what has been recorded of Mohammed and his sayings, and hear what the moderns imans have to say. The more I learned, the worse it got. The more I keep learning, the worse it gets.

This is a cult of hate and death and bizarre and repulsive sexual obsessions. I would say, even, that the features of this sexual obsession is probably the most important of the features of Islam and speaks to the dangerous pathology of the Muslim, particularly the Muslim male. Fear the man who has religion justifying what Islam justifies.

The veil emerged when Mohammed was having trouble with his restive harem and how they interacted with the larger community of Mohammed-followers. He decreed that his wives, and only his wives, "cover their bosoms"--now all Muslim women are urged to smother under hot blankets, lest they arouse the raging Muslim man's libido with some glimpse of elbow or ear. The assumption that an unveiled woman is fair game to molestation is part of the mystique of the veil.

American schools are better off without this mystique. Let them walk the malls, if they must, in their hot , black dust-ruffles like Death Comes Walking. It is not proper for the schools.

re: As I said before, the beliefs of Muslims are not nearly as villianized as the beliefs of the KKK. )))

I don't know about that. 3000 murdered in 2001 and a war might make the Knights of the White Camellia just a fruitcake full of nuts--compared to the threat of the veil.

re: The average American is more likely to see Muslims as people "just like us, with a different ancient religion" than as the followers of a religion that seeks to subvert the entire world.)))

Then they ought to pick up a Koran and start reading--as tedious and ill-written as it is. Let them understand how they are deceived by the Muslim apologists who love to quote the early verses of the "peaceful" Mecca Mohammed who had no army, and not dwell on the butchery of the Medina Mohammed who *did* have an army. Let those students also know that it is Islamic doctrine that it is the LATTER verses that will hold sway in an argument.

re: You cannot win a battle for hearts and minds if you are busy acting in a manner that alienates the people we are trying to attract. )))

Gee, sounds like a wise generality. Care to tell me specifically what you're talking about?

258 posted on 04/01/2004 9:38:55 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: katz
Right! Keep your headscarf in the country you fled. Why the h*ll did you come to the land of the free....to impose your religion on America? Get the illegals out of our country. Hate America? Stay out.

Are you serious? What does "land of the free" mean to you? It certainly doesn't mean everyone with the same religion and clothing to me.

259 posted on 04/01/2004 9:45:02 AM PST by TankerKC (Clogged Arteries and Still Smilin'!)
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To: TankerKC
The hijab is more than an item of fashion. It is like grafitti sprayed on the subway--it says, "We own this territory"-- although I've heard that grafitti is a form of art...

As a matter of law enforcement, it has been shown that controlling grafitti goes an amazingly long way in helping to control gangsterism. It takes away the momentum of "this belongs to us."

The more veils, the more belongs to them--beware. It particularly ought to be removed from the schools.

260 posted on 04/01/2004 9:56:40 AM PST by Mamzelle
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