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Close Topic OptionsPublic College To Install Foot-washing Basins
Public College Install Foot-washing Basins - Sciences, Education, Art, Writing, UFO - Posted: 31st Jul, 2007 - 6:42pm
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For Muslims students. The big issue, separation of church and state in America's state schools, of course, but there isn't going to be a separation of mosque and state at one public college in Minnesota. The school is going to install a special sink or several for Muslims to wash their feet, and taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill.
Public College To Install Foot-washing Basins
What is your position on the matter? Is it okay for US taxpayers to have to pay for these special basins for Muslims students? In a country where Christmas carols are banned in some schools as well as religious rings, isn't this double standards?
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| DOUGLAS KENNEDY, BIG STORY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah John this sink is for a pre-prayer wash and the school says it's to keep their students safe. Critics are calling it a double standard. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KENNEDY (VOICE-OVER): For practicing Muslims, daily prayer is a must. In fact, devout Muslims are required to bow to Mecca five times a day. Each time, washing their hands, their mouths, and especially their feet. Now a college in Minnesota wants to help their Muslim students do just that. KATHERINE KERSTEN, MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE: Well, the college is proposing to construct modifications to college bathroom facilities to create foot basins for ritual prayer preparation for Muslim students. KENNEDY: Minneapolis Community and Technical College is a state-run university. Last year, it banned a campus coffee cart from playing Christmas carols. Katherine Kersten is a columnist for the "Minneapolis Star Tribune." KERSTEN: Although Christianity is barred in public places during the holiday season, the college is actually going to be using taxpayer funds in order to construct daily prayer preparation facilities for Muslim students. KENNEDY: This is not the first religious controversy to hit Minneapolis. Last year, Muslim cabbies began refusing fares for people carrying liquor, citing religious reasons. But college president Phil Davis says the two accommodations are very different. The foot washing facilities are not about religion, they are about customer service and public safety. Davis points out if there are no facilities, Muslim students will have to wash their feet in bathroom sinks which he says is not sanitary and dangerous for the students. KERSTEN: There are a number of ways that this could be handled. Certainly students could be told that they simply could not use the public bathrooms to wash their feet. They could also be encouraged to talk to religious leaders about other abbreviated or accelerated ways to prepare for prayer, which are very much acceptable in mainstream Islamic practice.... |
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TOPIC: Public College To Install Foot-washing Basins