U.S. Common Sense

Source:  The Washington Times - 10/8/2007

Thoughts: Religion has been a touchy issues on so many fronts for the past two decades that it has become a taboo of sorts to even consider acting on an issue that in any way that might benefit or take away from one or more particular religious groups. We’ve seen it with “Christmas” being removed from schools, prayers being denied at graduation ceremonies, and special accommodations being made for non-Christian students during the school day. Not to be taken in the wrong way, but an ideal case would be where all students were of one religious group so that schools can be structured around their collective beliefs. This is one of the reasons why private religious schools and home schooling have become so successful and popular over the years. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to afford to send their children to private school, nor are they qualified to teach their children at home.

Enter public schools: a government funded entity designed to educate our children at little-to-no cost to the individual. With modern school districts being a melting pot of society, it is inevitable that conflicts will arise when scheduling holidays, especially when they are religion-specific.  In the past, Christmas break wasn’t an issue since the vast majority of students were either Christian or Atheist.  Today, however, the Jewish holidays of Chanukah and 10th of Tevet or the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha and Muharram fall in proximity of Christmas, making it difficult for school boards to schedule an all-inclusive holiday for everyone, especially when some of the holidays are based on lunar calendars.

Which brings us to the First Amendment.  It is time that we lay off of the claim that the assumed “separation of church and state” means the abolishment of religion in schools.  Religion is not something that is practices solely on Sundays, especially when you are talking about the Jewish and Muslim cultures (where it is a life style rather than a religion).  This means Muslim students need to have time for their prayers, which is resolved by having recess or class periods start and end around the scheduled time for prayers, letting the students gather in a designated area.  This means Jewish students need to have alternative lunch choices by providing a non-pork alternative.  Christian students do not have any similar restrictions as such, but they too should be allowed to practice any reasonable religious tradition during the school day as well, be it a prayer between classes or having after-school gatherings on campus (for example).  This removes the claim of hypocrisy and anti-Christian policies while protecting everyone’s right of religion as granted under the First Amendment.

Article:  “U.S. Muslims’ needs roiling schools, forcing accommodations”
By Amy Fagan

Public schools increasingly are being forced to grapple with how to accommodate Muslim students’ needs, during Ramadan and throughout the school year, and some cases have spurred community debate.

(Article continues.)

“We’re getting a lot of those inquiries right now because it’s sort of [. . . ] the new issue they’re contending with,” said Tom Hutton, a lawyer with the National School Boards Association, which provides school officials with broad guidance on such topics occasionally.

Generally, he said, “schools try to bend over backwards to accommodate religious needs.”

Islam is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States, according to a 2002 State Department publication, so it isn’t surprising that schools are fielding more special requests.

Mr. Hutton said observance of the holy month of Ramadan is usually “easy” for schools to accommodate and may include Muslim children being excused from gym class or assigned different activities if they are fasting. Fasting during Ramadan usually begins in earnest when a child turns 12 or 13 years old, aides at Islamic groups said.

Other accommodations, some during Ramadan and some throughout the rest of the school year, could include rooms where students can go during lunch if they’re fasting; alternatives to pork on the school-lunch menu; areas for students to go to perform the required daily prayers; and requests either to be excused from school for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that ends Ramadan, or to make the day a school holiday, the aides said.

But conservative and religious groups complain that Christian students often are denied such leeway.

(Read the rest of the article here.)