Posted on 02/13/2008 4:42:27 AM PST by fweingart
There's an uproar in the U.K. over recent comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury that, given the country's growing and restive Muslim population, it is "unavoidable" that certain aspects of Islamic law would, at some point, have to be accepted in Britain.
What many Americans do not realize is that there's a concerted effort by some in the American Muslim community to move slowly in a similar direction right here in the United States.
While this effort is not necessarily about Sharia law, it is an attempt by some Muslim Americans to force the rest of us to enable their cultural and religious practices in the public sphere. Instead, they should be assimilating and abiding by general U.S. norms.
One of the front lines of this fight: footbaths.
Growing numbers of Muslims living in the United States are seeking to wash their feet in the sinks of public rest rooms. The foot-washing is part of wudu, the ritual ablutions a Muslim performs before the five prayer sessions he or she observes every day at intervals from morning till night. The ablutions can take several minutes and involve repeated washing or rinsing of the hands, mouth, nostrils, face, arms, forehead, hair, ears and, finally, the feet.
There is nothing wrong with a devout Muslim seeing it as his religious duty to wash his feet. I take no issue with the practice whatsoever.
But I do not accept the notion that large, primarily secular institutions - or society as a whole - should invest time and money building facilities expressly to make it easy for people to perform the ritual.
Yet that is precisely what is happening. Not surprisingly, it is universities - bastions of open-ended tolerance - that are on the leading edge of the trend. Last year, it was reported that the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where more than 10% of students are Muslim, announced it would install $25,000 foot-washing stations in a number of rest rooms.
In contemplating this, the school was following in the footsteps of other institutions including Stanford University, the University of Houston, Boston University, St. Cloud State University and the University of Minnesota at Duluth. Indeed, right here in New York, NYU is considering installing footbaths in the Islamic section of its planned interfaith center.
Somehow, the American Civil Liberties Union - normally given to howls of execration at the mere thought of a creche in any semipublic place at Christmastime - is not challenging any of this. Why? Because, it says, it's not a matter of religion but of "cleanliness and safety." Foot-washing in regular sinks can be a messy business. It can also be off-putting for non-Muslims who must use the sinks and rest rooms for ordinary purposes.
But the question of whether footbaths improve cleanliness and safety is beside the point. What is at issue is the extent of public accommodation of religion. And furthermore, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations is specifically recommending that Muslims perform their ablutions in rest room sinks, it turns out that elaborate foot-washing at every prayer time isn't even required under Muslim law.
Indeed, a perusal of Islamic Web sites reveals some flexibility regarding the washing - for example, simply wiping over the sock is sufficient, rather than soaking the bare foot.
But this seems not to matter to those who want to thrust Islamic practices into the public sphere or to the politically correct officials who refuse to draw the line.
Foot-washing done in public places, whether in sinks or footbaths, sets Muslims apart from larger society. Rather than facilitating that, we should ask members of the American Muslim community to adapt their behavior to the country in which they live.
agreed!
Bush was right on compassionate conservatism. In many respects, I believe that the minority status of the GOP is due to our own failures in that regard.
Agreed; with the caveat that it is real difficult to have sympathy for the Muslim position when their leaders shout from the roof top our (America)need for destruction. Most folks I know are pretty accomodating as far as go along to get along; but get riled up with the in-your-face-accept-me-or-else-there-will-be-violence that some of these groups espouse.
I doubt it
----
How about responding to Vor Lady's Question in #37?
It isn’t political correctness gone wrong.
It is a result of our “free trade” policies which allow foreign corporations and foreign governments to invest in our infrastructure, and send their children to our universities,and influence our politicians with greater authority than our own citizens.
When islamic monarchies, like Dubai run the cargo businesses in our airports, well,or are investors in them, well they demand that the airports become islamicized. This wasn’t possible before “free trade” threw out all and any laws and rules that protected vital domestic American interests from ownership by foreign governments.
Look, honestly I believe it highly possible that you have some Muslims screaming for accommodations. That doesn’t mean you tear down all Islam, or claim that the society is going to buckle under.
I think that people can overreact to what is happening. I don’t see a huge outcry by Muslims for these things. And I would criticize those attempts if they are occurring.
Let’s not forget the extremists in all religious groups.
Christian foot washing was done as a service to one another. Long walks in sandals left the feet dirty, and hospitality demanded that people wash each others’ feet when they arrived at your home. I’ve been in (and participated in) Christian foot washings as a ceremony done every few months where the women wash the other women’s feet and the men wash the other men’s feet. It’s a dear and beautiful thing, and not many do it any more. The spirit of Christ the Servant is felt in it.
I am just thankful that our Father in Heaven does not demand that I exhaust myself washing every nook and cranny of my body five times a day when I want to pray to Him. These Muslims need to have to accommodate themselves to the country they are in just like we Christians have to do.
>When islamic monarchies, like Dubai run the cargo businesses in our airports, well,or are investors in them, well they demand that the airports become islamicized.
Dubai had every right to that contract. The public was wrong.
He lived a long time before Mohammed and Isaac and Ishmael separated their ways a long time before Israel, Isaac’s son started the Israelis.
It was an ancient rite with the Jews:
>And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat; when they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to cause an offering made by fire to smoke unto the LORD;
Christ was a Jew.
>These Muslims need to have to accommodate themselves to the country they are in just like we Christians have to do.
I agree. And I would be fairly offended if they washed their feet in the sinks of a public restroom.
>Why do you think Jesus practiced the muslim’s style of washing?
I never claimed Jesus practiced a Muslim washing. I believe Muslims got the washings from the Jews.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711805/posts
"Mursal and hundreds of other Muslim cabdrivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport refuse to take customers they know are carrying alcohol. They don't search bags, but a wine box may be enough to leave a fare waiting for the next cab."
We’re coming to a breaking point.
>Mursal and hundreds of other Muslim cabdrivers at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport refuse to take customers they know are carrying alcohol. They don’t search bags, but a wine box may be enough to leave a fare waiting for the next cab.
I saw that and considered that. Let’s say that a cab driver wanted to refuse service to a person who had a box of pornography. Could he do that?
What if a cab driver wanted to refuse service to a person who was not dressed decent. Allowed?
I have never been a fan of the federal government rewriting the duties of those who serve the public. But I can see the reasoning.
That issue is not a Muslim issue. It’s a question of the rights of a customer to trump the standards of the service provider.
LOL! Why do you think I dug that up? You are so predictable.
We're there.
Many of us have come to realize that Congress is our enemy and will NEVER be able to do the proper job intended for them by our founding fathers. They have helped destroy our nation and anything that was once decent about it.
Joining them are the gaggle of perverts and pornographers that have been diligently doing their job to destroy the minds and morals of our youth through the glorifyication of homosexuals and flesh-flashing trashy temptresses.
We continue to say 'enough is enough,' but our MSM plows ahead on its charted course guiding Americans to this sin and evil and world socialism.
Do you have any thoughts on the subject, or just able to throw out personal insults?
Too big.
Don’t really want to transport it.
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