Posted on 08/03/2008 9:36:25 PM PDT by forkinsocket
Manzur Mahmud used to hide when he prayed.
He'd duck down in his cubicle at Dallas' Texas Instruments or scramble to a friend's office to conduct two of his five daily Muslim prayers. Now the Bangladeshi engineer walks down the corridor and enters a small prayer room.
North Texas companies are increasingly making space for quiet rooms as Muslim employees play a larger role in the U.S. workplace and feel more secure about verbalizing their faith.
Meanwhile, businesses nationwide are seeing a rise in the number of religious discrimination charges. The changing nature of the workplace is forcing organizations to navigate the nuances of religious acceptance and office productivity.
"People have started coming forward and identifying themselves as Muslims," said Mr. Mahmud. "And employers are realizing that if their employees are happy, they work better."
Dallas-based American Airlines has a multipurpose room visited up to four times a day by its Muslim employees who previously prayed in the stairwells. Nortel's Dallas campus has several scattered quiet rooms available for prayer, and Electronic Data Systems in Plano just opened one last fall.
[...]
Muslim backlash after 9/11 had a profound impact on the community, Mr. Elibiary said, and only now are Muslims becoming comfortable enough to showcase their faith again. He attributes it to American disenchantment with the Iraq war and the war on terror.
"As Americans started losing confidence, they stopped fearing their Muslim neighbor," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Geee...ya think?!?
I don’t need a private room to pray to my Lord God Jesus Christ. I can and do pray to Him ANYTIME and ANYWHERE!
Yes we can pray to Jesus anytime in any position.
We still kneel in church.
Muslims for some reason have not evolved out of having to toss down a rug and assuming their Prayer position.
Work is not Church.
“North Texas companies are increasingly making space for quiet rooms as Muslim employees play a larger role in the U.S. workplace and feel more secure about verbalizing their faith.”
North Texas companies are increasingly making space for quiet rooms as Muslim employees play a larger role in the U.S. workplace and the country moves ever closer to the imposition of Shari’a Law.
Do all employees have access to these prayer rooms? Or is it strictly for muslims only?
Islam has a concept of “muslim lands”. As in kufir seized in jihad must be brought back to muslim territory before they are divided up as slaves.
The followers of Jesus Christ know no such religious boundaries.
Probably not. If a Pentecostal entered and began praying in tongues....someone might be offended. :)
Unless Jews, Christians, and Atheists are also permitted access to these rooms to contemplate their own religious beliefs, these corporations are still engaging in "religious discrimination".
It doesn’t help that Bush is bringing thousands of Iraqi refugees here. (or Future Terrorists of America, as I like to call them)
Fixed it.
Yes we do and someday EVERYONE will kneel before Him whether they want to or not! Christians can take comfort KNOWING their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Maybe they ahould have rented a porta Potty and put it in the parking lot with a sign on it,”PRAYER ROOM”.
Since there is something about them washing their feet it could have a secondary sign over the urnal, “FOOT WASH”.
The fools fail to realize that they will eventually be eaten alive.
Where is the ACLU’s lawsuit (............sound of crickets)
"As Americans started losing confidence, they stopped fearing their Muslim neighbor," he said.
What a steaming pile of BS. The Iraq war and "Islamophobia" have nothing to do with each other. The war in Iraq is not a war against Muslims, it's a war against al-Qaeda (and most of al-Qaeda's victims in Iraq were Muslims!) To suggest that Americans are liking Muslims more because they're unhappy with the war in Iraq is completely illogical and idiotic. This article is nothing more than a garbage propaganda piece that tries to portray al-Qaeda-loving leftists as "progressive."
"Then [Jesus] said to them, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. Matthew 26:38-39, NIV
Time to evolve away from Jesus?
Did Jesus say that was the only way to do it?
As a manager, find out prayer times for that day and schedule conflicting meetings for fun.
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.