This story certainly will raise some eyebrows. Apparently, a charter school in Minnesota has mandatory Muslim prayer and ritual washing on Friday, the holy day for Islam. Yet another reminder why the First Amendment is a very good thing, both because this school is being exposed by the free press and because issues involving the establishment of religion are being discussed.
The Millennial Star
For those of you here (and many you are) who totally discount the threat of sharia law creeping into our society and won’t bother to link over to the story, let me excerpt one paragraph here:
“TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is “establishing Islam in Minnesota.” The building also houses a mosque. TIZA’s executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.”
Now, were this charter school sponsored by, housed with, and run by Christian ministers, everybody would be up in arms- especially you Lefties. But just watch this get watered down and swept under the rug.
The best part of this whole story comes from another report. When asked why his school doesn’t fly the American Flag (in accordance with State law), the school’s director said “he doesn’t know how to work the flagpole.”
Yeah, ok…
Ignore this story, move right along folks, there is nothing to see here.
Well, unlike Aloysiusmiller, I don’t think this story should be ignored, although I think he may be saying that tongue in cheek and he actually thinks it’s as important as I do.
I would like to add that a lot of people seem to have a kind of blind spot when it comes to the increasingly aggressive attempts by Islam to establish their own religious views everywhere, but especially in Europe and in a few occasions in the U.S.
The establishment clause is there for a reason, and in my opinion it is there not to keep church and state completely separate (there is room for some religious activity promoted by the state) but instead to avoid the establishment of an official state religion. In my opinion, for example, there is room for a vague prayer thanking God at the start of the school day. For those who are really bothered by that, a moment of silence, which is the practice in Florida, is probably a good compromise.
There clearly is NOT room for mandatory prayer led by an Imam and ritual washing at a state-supported school. This strikes me as a clear state-sponsored establishment of religion.