@ foot-washers-- Why not? It's a faucet close to the floor. It's not Islamic, it's plumbing.
@ all the stuff that Louis the Fat mentioned-- Yeah, we basically need to wake up and kick all of these Wahhabi agitators square in the nuts.
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@ foot-washers-- Why not? It's a faucet close to the floor. It's not Islamic, it's plumbing.
@ all the stuff that Louis the Fat mentioned-- Yeah, we basically need to wake up and kick all of these Wahhabi agitators square in the nuts.
Foot Washing is common to many cultures, from China to Appalachia. It isn't just a religious ritual (and most major religions practice this not just Islam), but a cultural practice as well. So long as the proposed facilities are open to all, what's the big deal? Wash your dirty stinky feet, heathen!:bow:
This is why I don't post much in the Backroom anymore. People focus on such small things like this, and it's just too predictable what everyone's reaction will be. :rolleyes:
To the people crying foul about hypocrisy, and for anyone else who just wants to know the actual experiences of an American college kid, here is a small tidbit of info. I have much more if wanted.
http://www.housing.umich.edu/dining/religious.html
We have a nice cheap meal system here, but our Jewish students can transfer their meal credits to eat nicely prepared Kosher to suit their religious sensibilities. :smiley:
To my knowledge, this is the only special religious meal accommodation they have here (they have programs for various holidays however Diwali, Passover, Ramadan, etc, but no Muslim or Hindu dietary plans).
Also to my knowledge, there have been no Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist/Secular complaints of religious favoritism or hypocrisy because of this program.
I wonder however, if someone were to think foot washers for Muslims or Halal meals are "hypocritical" is it the same for Jewish Kosher plans?
If so, where is the outrage by the usual suspects? Why was not a thread posted on it?
Personally, I am pleased to have such a nice program for the Jewish students at my college. I wouldn't mind one for any other religious group either.
I say they can get them installed, but only if they put in a baptism font next to it. ~D
And you KNOW some drunk student would probably urinate in both of them at some point...
I think my biggest concerns are the potential hypocrisy involved-- like a couple of you pointed out, there would almost certainly be a big to-do if this involved installing a confessional booth -- and the fact that this is happening on a public college. We Minnesotans generally take the whole "separation of church & state" thing pretty seriously, and I can't help but feel that this is probably qualifies as such....however mild a case it may be.
And yet....we don't to shut these people out, either. My state is as religious as any (albeit not ostenatiously so, unlike the "Bible Belt" states), so most of us can sympathize with Muslims on at least some level. I mean, it's not like we can really blame them for following a religion that simply happens to require more weekly rituals than Protestantism or Catholicism. [sigh]
The funny (yet sad) thing is, this whole matter probably wouldn't have even have shown up on anyone's radar were it not been for the problem with our airport taxi drivers. Now everyone here is on edge, and as a result we seem to be suffering from some anti-Muslim backlash at the moment. I'm in disbelief -- not to say appalled -- that some of our Somali residents have received hate mail over this issue with the foot-washing facility. It's not like my fellow Minnesotans to behave so poorly. I can understand some resentment and concern, but the sudden hate-mongering is....distressing, to say the least. Whatever I or others might think or feel about the issue, there's no excuse for this extreme response. :shame:
Golf is never going to be the same again for me. :embarassed:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregoshi
As to the topic, I have mixed views. If it is a completely private college that receives no public funding whatsoever, then I could care less if they do this. If it's a public university or college, then I'm squarely against it. As someone pointed out, there's a difference between embracing other cultures, and then bending over backwards/crawling for them. Do this for one, and you'll have every single other one raising an uproar about discrimination and lack of preferential treatment, anyone who says this won't happen clearly has never been attended college.
Edit - Offtopic possibly.
Martok, about the taxi drivers, I believe we're going to see some real focus on squashing that and some other aspects in the workforce that have gotten out of control, IMO. The other one that comes to mind is pharmacists, since my dad is one I hear about issues related to that quite often. It would appear that in regards to dispensing prescriptions, the law is probably going to end up looking something like as follows:
If the pharmacist objects and will not dispense the prescription, then they will not be forced to. However, they WILL be required to accommodate the customer's request through some means easily accessible to them. This would entail something like calling in a backup within half an hour or so to fill it, or locating a nearby pharmacy within some arbitrary distance that is willing to fill the prescription and honor any discounts/etc that the intended pharmacy will. In fact it's possible that the 2nd option will not even make it in, and the store/pharmacist will be required to call in a backup.
I don't object to people who wish to exercise their religious beliefs, indeed that's part of the cornerstones of what the US is about, freedom to practice your religion. What it seems like is happening, and I agree with, is that that freedom is somewhat limited when it starts to affect other people. As a pharmacist, you will be forced into certain situations you may not like. The big argument is that by aiding and abetting the filling out of a prescription for birth control or whatever, that violates their rights. Sorry, but when in a critical job that involves medicine, one's rights to their beliefs only extend so far before they negatively impact someone else. As such, one doesn't have to fill the prescription, but one MUST provide an alternative whether they like it or not. Same goes with being a taxi driver, and I'd imagine that something similar to what I stated above (provided that is what the end result will look like) is going to occur. The exception may be in terms of safety or health, say for example the driver goes to pick up someone stranded (I'm just making this up, bear with me) in the middle of nowhere, and they happen to have some kind of alcohol on their person. In this case it probably wouldn't be feasible or reasonable to expect another driver to come out and take a long time to pick up the individual, in such a case the driver would be forced to transport the person and their cargo.
Just some food for thought.
Cheers.
You just ruined the whole idea for me. :sweatdrop:Quote:
Originally Posted by drone
:daisy: alcohol. I suspect I'll be turning Prohibitionist soon enough once I get on the College ride. That or dead drunk, either way.
But that's off-topic. Anyway, I think it's all really a non-issue. On one hand they say it's because she slipped, not because she's a freaking Muslim. That would mean even if she's a Scientologist the issue would still there. On the other hand the Muslim card is being played on and complained a lot on. So they have a large minority and accommodate for them in a way that others can use too (the tradition of washing one's feet before entering the house/holy place/hellhole is far more widespread than most Western people think anyway, and that's not considering that it's a place to wash one's foot. Every bloody person can use it if they want to, for sanitary, religious, cultural, or no reason whatsoever), big deal.
And just to make sure, I'm being a little aggressive against the idiots talked about in the article, not the posters here, which are very rational and temperate so far.
I do like to think of myself as a fairly tolerant individual, but I think it's a bit silly for them to install special wash basins which only one group uses regulary, and that group is also quite small (500 from 8000). That and it is possible for them to wash their feet in say a shower for example. They could buy a brush with a long handle stick a foot in hold tightly to the wall or something and scrub away and then switch feet. That and trying to wash your feet in a sink is really really dumb. Firstly it seems a bit unhygenic, and secondly the chance that you'r going to fall and smack your head off the floor is quite high since you're pretty much by default going to spill water and with one foot in the sink you're not exactly well balanced. I say they just tell the students to buy a brush and wash their feet in the showers. They could slowly faze in shower heads that can be removed from the wall (that's called a wand or something isn't it?) because everybody will take advantage of those, but they shouldn't if they cost a ton. They could even slowly start installing railings in the showers if they don't already have them because everybody can use them too, even if I'd probably only use them to balance my shampoo and soap on...
They can have their foot washing machines as long as I can have my Islamophobia and Homophobia, I have a RIGHT to Phobias!:juggle2:
Just out of curiosity, what would "foot-washing facilities" cost, per unit? Google found this place selling beach/foot washing setups for about $1,700 per. But that doesn't include drainage plumbing, or water supply.
I'm still unclear on what exact facility is needed, and the cost. Or are we gonna import labor to do the job manually?