[coffeebreak]

A few of you need a refresher course:

Here's what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Like I said before; the girl's religious freedoms should be protected, but ALL religious freedoms should be protected equally, not just Muslims in an election year.

[afz400]

"ALL religious freedoms should be protected equally."
Yeah, but what qualifies as a religion - what if I want my kid to be able to go to school naked because I say it's my religion? I think in all honesty the framers of the Constitution had Christians in mind when they wrote about freedom of religion.

[E Rocc]

Like I said before; the girl's religious freedoms should be protected, but ALL religious freedoms should be protected equally, not just Muslims in an election year.

The precedent will be useful to those fighting school boards which try to forbid Christian students from passively displaying their faith. Don't be suprised if some of the major religious legal groups join this case, on the side of the girl.

-Eric

[TheBattman]

As posted earlier - is this a RELIGIOUS garment or a CULTURAL garment?

If the former - then you are correct. If the later is true, you are wrong.

[Kenton]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

Well said, coffeebreak. I was trying to figure out how to say the same thing without getting into a flame war.

The main problem that mainstream religions in America (which face it, that means Christianity) face come from liberals who treat the "shall make no law respecting" (the "Separation of Church and State") clause as if it's the entire meaning of the First Amendment, and they show little respect for the "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" part.

That's why the word of God has become taboo in school. Because the school administrators claim "it's a separation of church and state thing".

This has little to do with policy, since the de facto policy seems to have been one of religious freedom (for people wearing crosses, anyway) and there's no compelling reason I can think of why they would change that policy because this kid is Muslim.

This is just a kid trying to practice their religion. Same as the kids who wear crosses.

And no, deep down inside, I don't want to see an "Islamization of America". But I don't want to forget about protecting the right of the individual to freely excercise their religion in public.

[Wurlitzer]

"Like I said before; the girl's religious freedoms should be protected, but ALL religious freedoms should be protected equally, not just Muslims in an election year."

Unfortunately you are right but only because we do not have a test for valid religions. Believing that your God supports killing anyone who does not believe your way is stupid and does not deserve to be called a religion. It is beyond a cult boarding on....., no on second thought it is actually a criminal terrorist syndicate disguised as a religion.