We Muslims Are Restless ... For Equal Holiday Rights
From Atlas Shrugs:
From the Gazette, September 18, 2013 (thanks to J. Christian Adams)
Group asks staff, students to stay home, celebrate Eid al-Adha on Oct. 15
A coalition of local Muslims and others are urging Montgomery County Public Schools to close on two holidays, which the coalition’s co-chair, Saqib Ali, framed as a civil rights issue.Besides an amended county school system calendar, the Equality for Eid Coalition — sponsored by the Maryland chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations — wants students and staff members to skip school on Oct. 15 and instead celebrate Eid al-Adha.Supporters can sign the coalition’s online petition at www.equality4eid.com. As of Monday, it had about 260 signatures.The coalition, which formed about a year ago, also wants schools to close when classes conflict with another Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr. However, for at least the next three years, Eid al-Fitr will fall on days during the school system’s summer break.Both Eid holidays fall on different days each year, as they follow the Islam lunar calendar.Eid al-Adha marks the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadan, according to the coalition’s website.The issue was discussed by the county Board of Education in November 2012, when it opted not to close school on the Muslim holidays after parents and community leaders requested it.
5 comments:
Montgomery County has quite a large Muslim population and is also the bastion of "political correctness."
I'm going to play devil's advocate, so don't hang me.
With regards to closing on religious holidays, one could argue the since Christmas is a religious holiday, they should also not close that day.
But that would really only affect business, since school closes during a winter break.
Thanksgiving can be looked at as a more secular day.
Easter always falls on Sunday, so that doesn't come into play.
Of course I don't think everybody should be forced to follow islamic holidays.
But I also don't like the fact that many people are forced to take Christmas off of work without pay. There are a lot of people in this country who don't get paid holidays off. And for those people who are living from one paycheck to the next, it does make a difference.
I know, I have been there.
I get what you're saying.
Christmas Break is not called that by any school system here. It's "Winter Break." It does coordinate with the Christmas season, of course. Were classes to be held during Winter Break, absences would run very high.
Spring Break is a different matter. I clearly recall working on Good Friday when I was teaching in the public school system. Students receive no penalty for not attending on "a religious holiday."
I just don't see how Christmas can be considered a religious holiday in the US in the 21st century despite its origins and history.
It seems as though December in the US has become like August in the EU. A annual slow down / shut down vacation period.
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