Gotta Gogh! MERRY CHRISTMAS!Merry Christma to you, too! :^D
Posted on 12/04/2004 5:15:02 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
Washington -- The county council of Howard County, Maryland -- a suburb of Washington and Baltimore -- made headlines recently when it passed legislation prohibiting the scheduling of public hearings on the two Eid holidays, the most holy days in Islam.
Although Howard County's action is unusual, it does reflect a growing trend toward official recognition of Muslim holidays in the United States, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which informally tracks such developments.
Especially since the attacks of September 11, 2001, "more and more Muslims are working to get their communities integrated into U.S. society and have made efforts to get their religious holidays recognized and accommodated at school and in the workplace," says Rabiah Ahmed, communications coordinator in CAIR's national office in Washington.
Even before 9/11, public school systems in the states of Michigan and New Jersey with large Muslim populations declared school holidays on Eid ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan; and Eid ul-Adha, which celebrates Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
The Dearborn, Michigan, public school system and colleges such as Syracuse University in New York, offer Halal meals prepared according to Islamic standards in their cafeterias. At Syracuse, Eid ul-Fitr is also an official holiday for students and faculty.
The White House, the Department of State and the Department of Defense host annual Iftar dinners to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. A CAIR-sponsored Iftar on Capitol Hill this year attracted about 10 Congressional co-sponsors and several hundred attendees, including diplomats, members of Congress, and other government officials. In California, five state legislators co-sponsored what was billed as the first annual Ramadan Iftar at the State Capitol in Sacramento.
The Howard County, Maryland, law resulted from the inadvertent scheduling of an important planning board hearing on the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Councilman Ken Ulman, who is Jewish, introduced a bill to officially prohibit scheduling of hearings on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the two holiest days for Jews.
"While I was putting together the bill, I thought it was appropriate to reach out to the Howard County Muslim community and ask if there were one or two days so holy that people would not be able to participate in public hearings scheduled for those days," Ulman says. Based on the response he received, "I thought it was an important gesture to include Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha in the bill."
After the legislation was passed, Ulman says, he received more than 100 e-mails from all over the world welcoming his action as a sign of respect and acceptance. "I've gotten responses from both Jews and Muslims who felt that with all the issues in the Middle East this was a nice symbolic gesture to have two Jewish holidays and two Muslim holidays included in the same piece of legislation," he says.
Celena Khatib, director of the Michigan office of CAIR, says she has seen an increased effort by both Muslims and non-Muslims to achieve a better mutual understanding in recent years.
"I have seen an increase in people requesting diversity training, people requesting speakers on Islam, and I get calls all the time from human resources officials who want information so they accommodate their employees' needs," she says. "I think the Muslim community realized after 9/11 that we need to be more open for people to get to know us, so we've also become more proactive."
Ulman credits the Muslim community in his county for recognizing the importance of making contact with elected officials. "Had I not gotten to know the Muslim leadership, I might not have reached out or not have known whom to reach," he says.
"This country was founded upon the strength of its diversity, although it has taken us a long time to view certain groups' diversity as a strength," Ulman adds. "It's all about education, exploring our differences, and breaking down the barriers."
at the same time christians are being castigated, christmas is being tossed out,...americans are being asked to introduce islam into public life?
Gotta Gogh! MERRY CHRISTMAS!Merry Christma to you, too! :^D
Thanks for the ping!
CAIR Trolls at it again??? Sorry I missed it. Bet they claimed not to be Muslims again...
Death To all Islamofascist terrorists ~ Bump!
Bologna. Patriots like, Benjamin Rush?
"Such is my veneration for every religion that reveals the attributes of the Deity, or a future state of rewards and punishments, that I had rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammed inculcated upon our youth than see them grow up wholly devoid of a system of religious principles. But the religion I mean to recommend in this place is the religion of JESUS CHRIST." 1786
Dr. Benjamin Rush, Signer of the Declaration, and delegate at the Constitutional Convention.
Allow me to correct and expand myself for your benefit.
Todays county council of Howard County, Maryland has a drastic shortage of American patriots who do not understand that America was born under Judeo Christian influence, not that of Allah.
Geek, I knew I had this filed somewhere. I found it just for you.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1028864/posts
Take a look at TJ's post of hard evidence that the American Founders wanted the Christian Almighty God in the Temples of American Government.
Here's an article about the Founders supporting a priest of the Catholic religion.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1294714/posts?page=71#71
How about the Ju-Ju celebration for Nigerians?
We can't leave out Walpurgis Night celebrated by witches covens all across this land!
I'm sure Janists of America are offended because they haven't been consulted!
Where does it end?
>>Where does it end?<<
When we decide that we have had all we can take of socialism.
I think it's coming to that!
Cool! We get holidays for every religion off now? I love it!
That means I get Febuary 2, March 21, May 1, June 21, August 15, September 21, October 31, and December 21 off- with pay.
Oh, yeah, and I need mornings off after every full Moon, because I have to be up late. And I still expect paid holidays for all the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Ba'hai, Falun Gong, Taoist, Shinto, Vodun, Zoroastrian, and American secular holidays, too! I may never have to go to work again!
Yeah, right.
We've got to draw the line somewhere. As a follower of a minority religion, I don't expect the majority to accomodate themselves to me. Majority rule is the foundation of Democracy. If a majority of the folks in my hometown want to put up a Nativity scene on the Town Square with municipal funds, go for it. If I don't like it, I can vote against it. I'm not going to go crying to the courts. But our country is so screwed up now that a bunch of liberals with agendas can get activist judges to overrule the decisions of voters anywhere in the country. That's not democracy.
"It's ironic isn't it? These are the reasons a lot of our ancestors came to the "New World"- To escape religious persecution and it's coming back around to bite us in the ass."
Interesting. The Pilgrims left Europe to escape religious persecution. But when some of their fellows split off and went to Rhode Island to live a slightly less ferverent Christian life, the Massachusets Bay folks got their guns, went down to Rhode Island, chopped down their Maypole (no symbolism there, eh?) and threw a bunch of the "heretics" in jail. Religious freedom for themselves- but nobody else. This same bunch went after Catholics, Quakers, Anabaptists, etc. also over the years.
(sarcasm alert)
Oh, gee. Poor Christians. Mean outsiders coming in, supressing your religion, forcing theirs on you, and threatening you with death because of what you believe.
This has been done by- and to- Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. etc. over and over. Unless we as a civilization figure out a way to end the cycle of religious conflict, these pointless little wars are going to keep happening over and over.
What has made America strong for two hundred years is the principle of freedom within the bounds of civil law. We allow our government to control our actions in the name of civil order- we must never allow any government to control what we believe.
Political, economic and religious freedom, democracy, and the rule of law- THAT is the American Dream that draws freedom-loving people from all over the globe.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
Merry Christmas to you too! Loved the post. We live pretty simple ourselves- in fact, we have to, as confiscatory taxes leave us little choice.
Here's an example of how NOT to do it:
A lady in my office and her husband had a nice house in the 'burbs, two kids, two used cars, and were broke. Then they both got big promotions at work. Now, they have a McMansion, a new Lexus sedan, a new Ford Excursion, and are just as broke as they were before! Hel-lo? Anybody see a connection here?
Meanwhile my family lives better- not richer, but better- on 1/4 their income. When times get tough, we have equity and savings to see us through. They're a couple paychecks away from homelessness.
BTW, I buy new tires. If I keep the air up and suspension aligned, I only buy two sets over the useful economic life of the vehicle. Got 60,000 out of a set of Firesone Radial ATXs (On a Ford Explorer, no less! Never had a tire failure as I kept the air pressure up and didn't overspeed them.)
Hear hear!
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