Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...so here does it stop? Are school's now supposed to close for every religious holiday for every faith? Kids would never be in school.

This is a slippery-slope argument. Which, actually reminds me of, "Well, if we let gays marry, then what next?"

Let's treat closing school for Eid on the merits of closing school for Eid.

If we're going to be a welcoming country to people of all faiths and cultures, which I do think is a wonderful aspect of the USA, we cannot be observing each groups' religious days by closing the schools and government offices.

So what can we do?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

A request that we're sure would be granted to Christians in a Muslim country??

How is that relevant?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...so here does it stop? Are school's now supposed to close for every religious holiday for every faith? Kids would never be in school.

This is a slippery-slope argument. Which, actually reminds me of, "Well, if we let gays marry, then what next?"

Let's treat closing school for Eid on the merits of closing school for Eid.

If we're going to be a welcoming country to people of all faiths and cultures, which I do think is a wonderful aspect of the USA, we cannot be observing each groups' religious days by closing the schools and government offices.

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

A request that we're sure would be granted to Christians in a Muslim country??

Jew in NOVA here whose kids aren't off for the Jewish holidays. We pull them out but have no issue with it. Muslim observers should do the same.

Anonymous wrote:

That's the salient point. You know FULL well that this is a Christian nation and that is driven by the overwhelming majority of the people who practice the faith. We're talking about public sectors remaining open on religious holidays, we're not talking about any of the other tenets of our Freedom of Religion. So, you're being incredibly disengenous. This is a Christian nation. I don't mean in the sense of an officially-sponsored religion. I mean in practice. And you know perfectly well what I mean.

No, actually, I didn't know perfectly well what you mean.

Usually, when people in the US say, "This is a Christian nation", they mean that it is officially Christian, founded by devout Christians on Christian biblical precepts. It's not. (You agree that it's not.) It wasn't. If you want to say, "Most people in the US are Christian," then say that. I don't think you'll find many who disagree with you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP, evidently you think that the US is a Christian country because the majority of people who live in the US are Christian? But that is not what makes a country Christian (or not Christian).

Wow, you're dense. So, I'm going to go with disengenuous.

Is the official government religion in the US Christianity?
Are laws in the US based on Christian law?
Does the US have laws whose purpose is to advocate Christianity?
Are government officials in the US required to be Christians?
Do Christians have more legal rights to practice their religion than members of other religions (or members of no religion)?
Does the government support Christian churches, and only Christian churches, with taxes?

Would you like a few more other red herrings to throw out?

Is the federal govenrment closed on Christmas Day? Wait! Yes! It is!

Is it closed on Yom Kippur? No! It's not!

Is it closed on Eid? No! It's not!

Is it closed for major Hindu or Buddhist holidays? NO! It's NOT!

That's the salient point. You know FULL well that this is a Christian nation and that is driven by the overwhelming majority of the people who practice the faith. We're talking about public sectors remaining open on religious holidays, we're not talking about any of the other tenets of our Freedom of Religion. So, you're being incredibly disengenous. This is a Christian nation. I don't mean in the sense of an officially-sponsored religion. I mean in practice. And you know perfectly well what I mean.

Anonymous wrote:So should teachers also stop instruction 5 times a day and have everyone face Mecca?

If people need to take of on Oct. 15, fine, no problem.

Has anybody asked for this? No.
Would this be legal? No.
Does MCPS have teachers do the comparable Christian and/or Jewish actions? No.

So why are you bringing it up?

So should teachers also stop instruction 5 times a day and have everyone face Mecca?

If people need to take of on Oct. 15, fine, no problem.

Anonymous wrote:...so here does it stop? Are school's now supposed to close for every religious holiday for every faith? Kids would never be in school.

This is a slippery-slope argument. Which, actually reminds me of, "Well, if we let gays marry, then what next?"

Let's treat closing school for Eid on the merits of closing school for Eid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

PP, evidently you think that the US is a Christian country because the majority of people who live in the US are Christian? But that is not what makes a country Christian (or not Christian).

Wow, you're dense. So, I'm going to go with disengenuous.

Is the official government religion in the US Christianity?
Are laws in the US based on Christian law?
Does the US have laws whose purpose is to advocate Christianity?
Are government officials in the US required to be Christians?
Do Christians have more legal rights to practice their religion than members of other religions (or members of no religion)?
Does the government support Christian churches, and only Christian churches, with taxes?

...so here does it stop? Are school's now supposed to close for every religious holiday for every faith? Kids would never be in school.

Anonymous wrote:

To demand something from a school system that already has a carefully planned calendar seems like a group looking for a fight, to make some sort of point.

Yes, that's true. So what? The point is that, just as MCPS is closed on the most important Christian and Jewish holidays, MCPS should also be closed on the most important Muslim holidays. And it's a fight because the close-on-Eid supporters want MCPS to do it, whereas MCPS doesn't want to do it.

It's both honorable and effective for people to advocate for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next thing you'll know the Christians will want Christmas, and Easter, and even their Sabbath off.

Well, this is a Christian nation, so that's perfectly reasonable. 76% of Americans are either protestant or Catholic (http://www.gallup.com/poll/151760/christianity-remains-dominant-religion-united-states.aspx) so, your flippancy is kind of dumb.

No, this is not a Christian nation.

Although you wouldn't know this from Maryland law, which requires schools to be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000-01-19/news/0001190202_1_religion-easter-supreme-court

Yes, it is. Trying to pretend otherwise is disengenous and makes you look patently ignorant. Which one are you being now?

PP, evidently you think that the US is a Christian country because the majority of people who live in the US are Christian? But that is not what makes a country Christian (or not Christian).

Wow, you're dense. So, I'm going to go with disengenuous.

As a point of comparison, DCPS does not get the Jewish holidays off. We have not since my kids have been in school (I have a 9th grader). Schools, however, understand that some kids and teachers may be out on these days. No problem.

Is this request worth all the vicious back and forth? To demand something from a school system that already has a carefully planned calendar seems like a group looking for a fight, to make some sort of point.

I am the daughter/granddaughter of immigrants, very sensitive to other cultures. When my grandparents came to this country, they took a good look around and did their best to be respectful to everyone and to fit into the culture that they chose to live in. Not abandoning their own culture, religion, language but understanding that they were in a new place and needed to make some adjustments for their choice to find their success here.