MCPS Removes Religious Holiday Designations from School Calendar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Muslims have a right to advocate for a day off but MCPS should have simply said yes or no. Why do they have to go through all this other nonsense?

They weren't even asking for another day off. They were asking that Eid be listed with Yom Kippur next year. They are on the same day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Muslims have a right to advocate for a day off but MCPS should have simply said yes or no. Why do they have to go through all this other nonsense?

I agree. It has unnecessarily complicated the issue and has led to Muslims being accused of participating in the "war on Christmas".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslims have a right to advocate for a day off but MCPS should have simply said yes or no. Why do they have to go through all this other nonsense?

They weren't even asking for another day off. They were asking that Eid be listed with Yom Kippur next year. They are on the same day.

Same difference, they have the right to and MCPS can simply say yes or no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslims have a right to advocate for a day off but MCPS should have simply said yes or no. Why do they have to go through all this other nonsense?

There is no reason for the school calendar to mention religious holidays. The School board realized this once this other issue was raised.

Why? Plenty of religious people in the county, the days off from school are for religious reasons, its perfectly reasonable to list the holidays on the school calendar, censorship is not needed.

It's not necessary. Don't you know when to celebrate your Christian holidays?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Muslims have a right to advocate for a day off but MCPS should have simply said yes or no. Why do they have to go through all this other nonsense?

They weren't even asking for another day off. They were asking that Eid be listed with Yom Kippur next year. They are on the same day.

Same difference, they have the right to and MCPS can simply say yes or no.

Sure, MCPS can do what it wants. But it is still accountable to be fair to its constituents. With this nuance clarified, we realize it's not about losing school days, or about number of students/teachers missing school on a particular day. None of that would have changed. The request by the Muslim community members was to have Eid listed WITH Yom Kippur, rather than added parenthetically.

You can see the testimony to the Board here: http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/saqib-ali-testimony-to-the-montgomery-county-board-of-education/1000/
The second page shows what they wanted changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree with what you are saying… the point I did a poor job of making is that our father’s atheism is not what it is today. The Atheist movement has little to do with not believing in God and more to do with militant zealot anti-Christian bigots who attack Christianity with a religious fervor. They are not looking for equality, they are looking to erase religion, and mostly Christianity, from the world. It's more of a secular cult that pushes the secular progressive ideology and has full faith that that ideology is the cure of all evils blind to the evil it manifests.

The atheist movement? Which should be looking for equality with religions?

Also, whose father's atheism? My father is not an atheist. Is yours?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why? Plenty of religious people in the county, the days off from school are for religious reasons, its perfectly reasonable to list the holidays on the school calendar, censorship is not needed.

No, the days off from school are for operation-of-the-school-system reasons. And people who celebrate religious holidays shouldn't need the school calendar to tell them when those religious holidays are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, should the Christians, Jews, and Muslims get together and protest the Board's decision?

I'm actually serious.

No, they shouldn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, a young girl stood up at an all staff meeting to protest the announcement of the annual holiday party date, and she said she doesn't celebrate a holiday in December bc she is an atheist Wiccan. She also protested the recent diversity survey because it didn't include a category for asexuality.

lol!

You can't make this shit up!

[Anonymous]

Joshua Starr's not much of a Jew now, is he?

lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county did the right thing. The Moslem groups were being unreasonable. No significant number of students and staff were taking the Eid holiday off (which is their right to do anyway). The Moslems just wanted to make a political point and get "recognition" and "respect" for their religious holiday, but recognizing religion is not the business of American public schools. Who would be next? Wiccans? Hare Krishnas? Schools only care when a significant number miss the day. Lots of Christian, Hindu and Jewish holidays were not on the calendar either (Divali, anybody? Sukkot? Greek Orthodox Christmas? Navruz? Kwaanza?) because not a lot of people take those off. No one complained. A small noisy group of Moslems tried to raise the profile of their minority and now all religious names are off the calendar. Fine by me.

Kwanza isn't a religious holiday.

No, but it's an African one, and we must remove race and culture from the picture, too.

b/c you know . . . we're all just human beings

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My daughter goes to a private school and they recognize every holiday on their school calendar (including the Eids) but they don't give off for any religious holidays. No Yom Kippur, No Easter Monday. Their Spring Break is after 3rd marking period every year. If they celebrate a religious holiday, they are excused absences with guaranteed no tests/homwork only. Many of the kids represent their holidays at the prior morning meeting. It is a shame our public schools can not be so tolerant. Don't ignore, don't give off, but excuse and embrace. Maybe there would be a lot less bigotry and fighting.

I'm guessing they give off for Christmas.

But, in any case, the religious holidays were not on the calendar because MCPS was observing the religious holidays. The religious holidays were on the calendar as explanations for the days off. MCPS has some of those days off (Christmas Eve, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday) because of state law. And MCPS has others of those days off (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur) because they believe that so many MCPS teachers will be absent and require subs that it makes more sense to not have school on those days.

Jewish teachers???? LOL

omg, moron

TONS of Jews in education

once an idiot, always an idiot

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I agree with what you are saying… the point I did a poor job of making is that our father’s atheism is not what it is today. The Atheist movement has little to do with not believing in God and more to do with militant zealot anti-Christian bigots who attack Christianity with a religious fervor. They are not looking for equality, they are looking to erase religion, and mostly Christianity, from the world. It's more of a secular cult that pushes the secular progressive ideology and has full faith that that ideology is the cure of all evils blind to the evil it manifests.

The atheist movement? Which should be looking for equality with religions?

Also, whose father's atheism? My father is not an atheist. Is yours?

Its an aphorism… lighten up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The county did the right thing. The Moslem groups were being unreasonable. No significant number of students and staff were taking the Eid holiday off (which is their right to do anyway). The Moslems just wanted to make a political point and get "recognition" and "respect" for their religious holiday, but recognizing religion is not the business of American public schools. Who would be next? Wiccans? Hare Krishnas? Schools only care when a significant number miss the day. Lots of Christian, Hindu and Jewish holidays were not on the calendar either (Divali, anybody? Sukkot? Greek Orthodox Christmas? Navruz? Kwaanza?) because not a lot of people take those off. No one complained. A small noisy group of Moslems tried to raise the profile of their minority and now all religious names are off the calendar. Fine by me.

Kwanza isn't a religious holiday.

No, but it's an African one, and we must remove race and culture from the picture, too.

b/c you know . . . we're all just human beings

Kwanza is most certainly not an 'African one', you best Wikipedia that one, you are in for a bit of an education on the absolute stupidity of that 'holiday'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why? Plenty of religious people in the county, the days off from school are for religious reasons, its perfectly reasonable to list the holidays on the school calendar, censorship is not needed.

No, the days off from school are for operation-of-the-school-system reasons. And people who celebrate religious holidays shouldn't need the school calendar to tell them when those religious holidays are.

Good grief.
1) I’m not even Christian, why are you stereotyping me??
And 2) how idiotic. So then by your logic why bother marking Saturday and Sunday on the Calendar… what you don’t know when to celebrate your weekend? Heck while we are at it, why do we even get these days off, I mean the children should go to school and the teachers work, why do they all have to be forced to observe the Jewish and Christian Sabbath??