Posted on 04/26/2007 6:51:28 AM PDT by Irontank
A thoughtless adolescent joke is being investigated by local police as a hate crime.
If you need proof that hate crimes and state-run schools are two government projects that should never mix, look no further than Lewiston, Maine. According to the Maine Sun Journal, "On April 11, a white student placed a ham steak in a bag on a lunch table where Somali students were eating." The Somali students were Muslim and believe pork to be unclean. The offender, who is now being investigated as the perpetrator of a hate crime — albeit a calloused and thoughtless one — was a middle school student. In other words, the young "criminal" is in either Sixth, Seventh or Eighth Grade.
Sadly, this is not a parody. In what must be the greatest overreaction of all time, "Lewiston police are investigating, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is working with the school to create a response plan."
That's right, a "response plan" for a ham sandwich. Why doesn't the principal just mete out an appropriate punishment commensurate with the offense?
According to Stephen Wessler of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence, having a ham sandwich in close proximity to Muslims is "an awful thing." "It's extraordinarily hurtful and degrading" to Muslims, Wessler added, according to the Sun Journal. "Incidents like this that involve degrading language or conduct are often said by the perpetrator as a joke. I know that conduct is never static," Wessler said according to the paper. "It's part of a process of escalation."
The Lewiston ham sandwich episode even has state officials in an uproar. During his April 24 broadcast CNN's Lou Dobbs reported that the Maine Attorney General is looking into the matter.
Clearly, administrators in the Lewiston school district, the Lewiston Police, the tolerance Gestapo at the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence and the Maine Attorney General's office have gone off the deep end. Lou Dobbs seems to concur. "Mr. Superintendent," the CNN anchor asked on his broadcast, "do you have any sense of proportion? These are children, you're supposed to be educating and one would hope imparting some wisdom and discipline. This is ridiculous." Ridiculous it may be, but the incident demonstrates the dangers of Orwellian hate crimes laws.
As far as that particular Maine school goes, the incident illustrates the difference between schooling for obedience and education. In their textbook Foundations of Education (Fifth Edition), a text that has been widely used in teacher training programs, Allan C. Ornstein of Loyola University and Daniel U. Levine of the University of Nebraska note: "The hidden curriculum is what students learn, other than academic content, from what they do or are expected to do in school. In addition to teaching children to conform passively in the classroom, the hidden curriculum may be preparing students ... to be docile workers later in life." "Thus, the prevailing socialization pattern in the culture of the school and classroom is one that places greatest emphasis on what [a study by scholar Gita] Kedar-Voivodas described as the obedient pupil role," Ornstein and Levine added.
"Hate crime" is a euphemism for thought crime and hate crime enforcement is little more than thought control. And that is the point of the "hidden curriculum" in at least that Maine middle school — to prepare its students "to be docile workers later in life."
Hate Crime???? and crashing a plane into building isn’t??
Political Correctness will be the death of this nation!!!!!!
“...this bein’ the biggest crime of the last half-century, and everybody wanted to get in a newspaper story about it...”
All Fixed!
Thought crime by mischievous junior high school student blown out of all proportion. We are being beaten down to the point where we are forced to abandon our own ways — American kids have always played pranks and gotten grounded for it — in order to adjust ourselves to the new life our overlords have planned for us that features a foreign culture. What a load.
“According to Stephen Wessler of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence, having a ham sandwich in close proximity to Muslims is “an awful thing.” “It’s extraordinarily hurtful and degrading” to Muslims, Wessler added,”
Is this moron serious? Muslims can’t EAT pork, last I heard. Where does this guy get off speaking for a billion Muslims?
I happen to find iS-Slime offensive! Banish it, and all who follow it!
Jews can’t eat pork either, but I’ve yet to see one flip out for being in proximity of a ham sandwich.
Now these are real hate crimes:
Saudi Arabia - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bibles are illegal. Churches are illegal. It is punishable by death for a non-mulsim to enter the “holy” muslim cities of Medina and Mecca.
Yemen - Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims and forbids conversions. The Government does not allow the building of new non-Muslim places of worship.
Kuwait - Registration and licensing of religious groups. Members of religions not sanctioned in the Koran may not build places of worship. Prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam.
Egypt - Islam is the official state religion and primary source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with Islamic law are prohibited. Muslims may face legal problems if they convert to another faith. Requires non-Muslims to obtain what is now a presidential decree to build a place of worship.
Algeria - The law prohibits public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. Non-Islamic proselytizing is illegal, and the Government restricts the importation of non-Islamic literature for distribution. The country has passed the “Regulation of Religious Practice” law, which stipulates a punishment of two to five years’ imprisonment and heavy fines for anyone convicted of urging a Muslim to change his religion.
Syria - The constitution requires the president to be a Muslim and specifies that Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of legislation. Sharing your Christian faith is discouraged as “posing a threat to the relations among religious groups” and carries a penalty of up to life in prison. A Christian is not allowed to proselytize – ever. Churches who want to hold an extra service must get a government permit. Sermons are routinely monitored, as is church fundraising.
Jordan - Has the death penalty for any Muslim selling land to a Jew.
Sudan - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death.
Pakistan - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims. Christians regularly put in prison for charges of blasphemy. Islam is the state religion, and in a court of law the testimony of a Christian carries less weight than that of a Muslim. Section 295(c) of the Penal Code calls for a death sentence for anyone who defiles the name of the Prophet Muhammad and requires the testimony of four Muslims for a conviction. This fosters an environment in which Muslims can feel free to use intimidation and violence against religious minorities for personal gain.
Qatar - Islamic instruction is compulsory in public schools. The government regulates the publication, importation, and distribution of non-Islamic religious literature. The government continues to prohibit proselytizing of Muslims by non-Muslims.
Malaysia - Under Malaysian law, any convert to Christianity must apply to a shariah (Muslim law) court to legally renounce Islam. Many Christians prefer to remain silent converts rather than take their battle to the shariah courts, where apostasy or conversion out of Islam is punishable by whipping, fines, imprisonment and—in the most extreme application—death.
The Maldives - In the island paradise visited by tens of thousands of tourists each year, Christianity is simply not tolerated. While local Christians – said to number around 300 out of a total population of 300,000 – do get together to worship, they do so at the risk of imprisonment or worse if discovered by the Muslim authorities. Bibles are banned, and tourists can be arrested for trying to bring them into the country.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/224065/student_leaves_ham_sandwich_on_lunch.html
The REAL hate crime is allowing Muslims into America in the first place.
You are so right. I read this post just moments after posting my rant about this thought crimes bill that is making its way through Congress. I said the South Park episode where Cartman is sent to prison for making a racial slur was a brilliant satire of this issue. Now in Maine we see a kid facing prosecution and persecution for doing something mean but ultimately not harmful to anyone’s physical well being. I wonder at what point a backlash to this kind of hysteria might occur but we’ve seen no signs of it yet. By the time that happens it might be too late.
Idiot mussulmens.
mo-HAM-med
Next they'll be demanding that grocery stores cease the display and sale of any pork products.
I am not being sarcastic.
Oh I see... these middle-school kids were the ones flying the planes? Miraculous they were able to escape unharmed. Or is your point that the actual pilots should be charged with hate crimes? Fine. Find them and we can bring them to trial.
PS. all that punctuation doesn’t make your point any more valid
Pardon me, while I go indict a Ham Sandwich...............
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.