Muslims ruin Christmas for School District. (atheist, woman, Europe)
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To appease Muslims, school district drops Christian, Jewish holidays from calendar!
The Montgomery County Board of Education on Tuesday voted to strip the names of Christian and Jewish holidays from its school calendar amid complaints from the parents of Muslim children seeking recognition for Islamic holidays.
The schools still will be closed on the holidays, but the board voted 7-1 to move the religious references from the calendar.
The surprise development came after Muslim community leaders complained that the Eid al-Adha holiday was not getting equal recognition on next year’s school calendar as the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which both will fall on Sept. 23.
Superintendent Joshua P. Starr recommended that the board adopt a plan that removed calendar references to Yom Kippur and another Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah.
But while considering the superintendent’s suggestion during a meeting Tuesday, school board member Rebecca Smondrowski introduced a motion to remove references to all religious holidays.
"It is about equity," Ms. Smondrowski told MyMCMedia. "I made the motion because if we are closing for operational reasons, then there should be no need to make reference to religion. That is the most equitable solution that I could see while recognizing that we need to be seriously addressing the criteria for how these things are decided in the future."
The board’s decision will apply only to the 2015-2016 school year and won’t affect references to federal holidays, schools spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala said.
"Any federal or state holiday will remain as it has on our calendar," Ms. Onijala said. "This is specifically for religious holidays."
Muslim parents, partnering with the Maryland chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, last year unsuccessfully petitioned the school system to cancel classes on the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of a month of fasting during Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha, the last day of Hajj.
Officials declined to close the system’s roughly 200 schools on the holidays, noting that the absentee rate was not high enough on those holidays to warrant the closure.
The school system said it does offer excused absences for students on religious holidays that fall on school days and makes teachers aware of numerous holidays so they are able to plan tests and other activities around them.
County officials insist that they look at the issue not as a religious one, but as a secular one, noting that closures are approved for days on which a large number of students or teachers would be affected.
They pointed out that the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur closures were not meant to honor the faith but were imposed because of the high number of students who were not attending classes.
"The decision to close on these days — originally made in the 1970s — has been based on the experience of significant student and staff absenteeism impacting the school system’s ability to continue an instructional program and operate safe schools," Mr. Starr wrote in a letter sent to the school board ahead of its vote.
Despite a growing Muslim population in the county, Mr. Starr said, the schools have not seen a similarly high rate of absenteeism among the system’s 154,000 students on the Islamic religious holidays.
It’s unclear how much of the school system’s student population is Muslim, but The Gazette in Montgomery County reported last year that 5.6 percent of students and 5 percent of teachers were absent on Eid al-Adha last year. The figure compared with about 3.2 percent of students and 4.2 percent of teachers the same day the previous week.
The issue of closing schools to honor religious holidays has heated up across the country in recent years as school systems acknowledge demographic shifts that have resulted in more diverse student bodies.
Dearborn, Michigan, with a Muslim population in its school system reportedly as high as 60 percent, has recognized Islamic holy days for more than a decade.
School systems in Massachusetts and Vermont in recent years also have approved school closures for the Muslim holidays.
During last year’s mayoral election in New York City, candidates expressed support for a measure to shut down the public school system on the Muslim holidays.
It’s likely the issue comes up again in Montgomery County as school board members may revisit the decision again before adopting school year calendars.
"They felt the conversation was ongoing and there was still a lot to discuss," Ms. Onijala said.
This is a double edger sword, and I have to side with the muslims this time,
We grew up as a Christian society in America, and nievely thought we could have freedom of religion.
This is easily said by people who have no concept of what other religions preach, and blindly think ,
Oh, All religions are pathways to the same God.
The reality is some of these religions do not work and play well with others, and we cannot use our school system as a battleground for less evolved people to preach their Gods, There is no end to what can happen.
The Muslims have every right to expect the same treatment as the jews and Christians, but I don't think any of them should be in our education system.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,920,960 times
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Originally Posted by Jim_a49
This is a double edger sword, and I have to side with the muslims this time,
We grew up as a Christian society in America, and nievely thought we could have freedom of religion.
This is easily said by people who have no concept of what other religions preach, and blindly think ,
Oh, All religions are pathways to the same God.
The reality is some of these religions do not work and play well with others, and we cannot use our school system as a battleground for less evolved people to preach their Gods, There is no end to what can happen.
The Muslims have every right to expect the same treatment as the jews and Christians, but I don't think any of them should be in our education system.
I actually agree with you on this one. What is right for one, is right for all.
Perhaps the Christmas break should be renamed "Winter Solstice" break. Which, of course, was the real reason for the season originally.
39.58% of the people in Montgomery County, MD are religious, meaning they affiliate with a religion.
13.63% are Catholic;
1.28% are LDS;
6.49% are another Christian faith; 3.07% in Montgomery County, MD are Jewish;
1.30% are an eastern faith; 1.26% affiliates with Islam.
Not being an American, I don't know if I have the correct "Montgomery County"...but according to these stats, there are more Jews than Muslims right now....these demographics may change as some are saying the Jewish population is in decline....if the demographics change, the school districts can revisit their holiday scheduling?......On the other hand....the stats also indicate that only about 40% of the population affiliate with a religion....so what about the rest?...are they Atheist/Agnostic/Spiritual/Nones...?....
It is good that American-Muslims are bringing up matters of concern and actively participating in Society...Perhaps it is an indication that they feel they belong...?...after all, it is their country and county as much as all other Americans.....?....
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,920,960 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim_a49
That's correct, the winter solstice was a holiday shared by many of the pagan religions of Europe.
When overthrowing a religion for another, usually the religions merge, you cannot turn them off like a light switch.
A good example is Caribbean VooDoo, a combination of the islander religions and catholicism
In other words, all that stuff about the religion's books being revealed can't be true. After all, why adopt the other religion's customs? You know, like Christmas time, Easter time etc. etc.
In other words, all that stuff about the religion's books being revealed can't be true. After all, why adopt the other religion's customs? You know, like Christmas time, Easter time etc. etc.
Religion is a hard thing to remove from a persons life, but was the foundation for most countries.
The common law. It works well when all are the same religion.
In other words, all that stuff about the religion's books being revealed can't be true. After all, why adopt the other religion's customs? You know, like Christmas time, Easter time etc. etc.
Agreed, these religious books have been the scourge of mankind, while they keep a community together, when they overlap they cause problems. And now they are all way outdated.
This was a Christian society, but now the Christians, who occupied the upper rungs in evolution, are now leaving the religion in droves, realizing the sheer insanity of it.
I don't feel they should impose their belief's on anyone, but at the same time, should not allow other religious cults to dictate anything.
We as a society need to get rid of these bronze age belief's and concentrate on real things.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,920,960 times
Reputation: 4561
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim_a49
Religion is a hard thing to remove from a persons life, but was the foundation for most countries.
The common law. It works well when all are the same religion.
Anywhere, it does not matter if the religion is good or evil, as long as it is the same, and with it, the rules that govern the society..
For example, If you have a country and religion, where it is wrong to rob and kill Jews,
You cannot have a religion enter, where it is OK to rob and kill Jews.
Each can thrive in their own environment, but when they overlap, you will have problems.
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