Something for Merlyn in his neck of the woods..

[hops_scout]

http://www.startribune.com/featuredColumns/12551256.html

 

Katherine Kersten: Normandale's 'meditation room' is home to a single faith

 

By Katherine Kersten, Star Tribune

 

Last week, I visited a Muslim place of worship. A schedule for Islam's five daily prayers was posted at the entrance, near a sign requesting that shoes be removed. Inside, a barrier divided men's and women's prayer space, an arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces.

 

Sound like a mosque?

 

The place I'm describing is the "meditation room" at Normandale Community College, a 9,200-student public institution in Bloomington.

 

Until recently, the room was the school's only usable racquetball court. College administrators converted the court into a meditation room when construction forced closure of the previous meditation room.

 

A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled "Hijaab [covering] and Modesty" was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior.

 

They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not "be such that it is heard."

 

"Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," the tract read in part. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."

 

"[T]he Jews and the Christians" are described as "the enemies of Allaah's religion." The document adds: "Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."

 

A poster on the room's door advertised a local lecture on "marriage from an Islamic perspective," with "useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet's ... life." Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.

 

One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah.

 

Normandale's administration is facilitating the room's Islamization. The college's building crew erected the barrier separating men's and women's sections, according to Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs. College officials also posted signs at the room's entrance asking students to remove shoes -- a Muslim custom before prayers. This was "basically a courtesy to Muslim students," Anderson said.

 

Despite the room's Islamic atmosphere, Anderson says it "is open to everyone."

 

Why is the meditation room segregated by sex? "Muslim students prefer that areas be divided into male and female," he said. "Other students don't care."

 

Doesn't sex-segregation present a constitutional problem in a public educational institution? "I don't want to comment on that," he said.

 

And the literature regarding Jews and Christians? "I would probably take it out if I knew it was in there," said Anderson.

 

Normandale's zealous effort to accommodate Muslim students is not new. Chad Lunaas, a former student who works at the college part time, cites examples.

 

Last year on Fridays, he says, he often entered the bathroom to find that "every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet." Other students couldn't use the bathroom at these times, and those who tried felt awkward.

 

Lunaas finally expressed his concerns to a Muslim student who "seemed to be in charge."

 

"His attitude was, 'We don't have to listen to you, we can do whatever we want,' " he said.

 

Confrontations also erupted in the sex-segregated meditation room, according to Lunaas. "Muslim students just took it over. They made people who were not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female."

 

One female student tried to use the room when Muslim students were in it, said Lunaas. "She believed she should be treated equally. They were telling her to leave, to take off her shoes, to go to the other side of the divider."

 

Anderson says he met several times with concerned students. But "the whole thing was just basically swept aside," according to Lunaas.

 

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Oh wait, it's another minority so it's probably "okay" for them to do it.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

The MN ACLU is looking into it:

http://www.aclu-mn.org/home/news/aclumninquiresintonormanda.htm

 

Got something against equal treatment, hops_scout?

[hops_scout]

Nothing against "equality"

 

I'm against the United States giving in to any minority who believes they have been mistreated.

[GernBlansten]

Do you feel the same if the United States gives in to any majority who believes they have been mistreated.

 

[Gold Winger]

When I came to this thread, the ad on the right linked to this page,

 

Islamic marriage

 

Interesting, no?

 

I find it interesting that the variety of Islam being preached is anti-Christian and Jew. From what I've read of the Koran, Christians and Jews are to be treated as friends.

 

 

 

[Oak Tree]

Gold Winger - yes, the ads are always keyed off of the discussion. You can see a thread here where we rose up as a group at Hunt's suggestion and managed to get llama ads to appear on the right.

 

I think it's always tricky when a public place of residence (college, military, jail, ...) tries to give worshipers an option of feeling at home in their worship. Privately many of us would hold positions that aren't ok for the government to advocate. Like llama-ownership, for example.

[local1400]

Speaking of ads, theres the 'Meet Sexy Arab Women' ad, running at the top. Now, how does one know if she is sexy wearing that executioners mask and KKK robe?

[Gold Winger]

If I thought that I'd actually meet sexy Arab women, I might give it a shot. The stunning women in the ads aren't the ones that you get to meet. The available women will have a face like a camel, a squint in one eye and be missing three teeth in front.

[CalicoPenn]

That's only fair, GW since the men that answer those ads have faces like rhinos, bellies bigger than their heads, less hair than a newborn and zealously guard their one remaining tooth.

 

CP

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Hey, if it was the 1940's you guys could carp on how Japs look like monkeys with buck teeth. I guess given the BSA's "exclusivity", racism is in fashion again.

[Gold Winger]

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Gold Winger, you're a good example of much of what's wrong with the BSA.

[hops_scout]

"I guess given the BSA's "exclusivity", racism is in fashion again."

Wrong.

 

Last I checked BSA didn't discriminate against a specific race.

[Gold Winger]

(This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

hops_scout, I notice neither you nor any other BSA member bothered to even criticize the racist remarks of CalicoPenn and Gold Winger; as I say, it looks like racism is in fashion in the BSA. That doesn't mean it's an official policy, it means that "upstanding" members can make racist remarks and nobody will call them on it. Gold Winger isn't even trying to defend his stupidity, he's just trying to goad me instead of attempting to justify his racism.