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Friday, October 26, 2012

ANOTHER SALISBURY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: NO TESTS ON FRIDAY IN WICOMICO COUNTY

Our Schools are now regulated by the NAACP and the Muslim Council, or so it would seem. 

103 comments:

Anonymous said...

i would schedule every test i could.

Anonymous said...

This is complete BS!

Anonymous said...

what happen to church and state

Anonymous said...

Joe,
by printing the truth about this you will be on their "Hit List" and be a target. They will put a Jehad or something like it out for your head! The "Peaceful religion" will kill you!

Anonymous said...

If Frederickson gives in to this BS letter, he should be fired and there should be a lawsuit! I AM SOOOOOOO SICK OF THIS PC BULL****!

Anonymous said...

12:05.....We don't schedule any tests on Christmas Day do we? Is that separation of church and state?

Queensgirl52 said...

It's ONE LOUSY DAY without tests! Who cares? Do you think the kids are unhappy?

I'm curious. Does anyone know what percentage of public school students here are Muslim?

Anonymous said...

To the person who commented at 12:05 you are an idiot!

Anonymous said...

Don't compare onions to apples 12:15. Schools are closed on Christmas Day. American was founded on christian values and it is expected that those who aren't christian are to blend into the melting pot. If you can not blend then get the hell out. We shouldn't have to change OUR ways and bend to every little whim of those who refuse to blend it.
People should not come here and expect to benefit from all our good without they themselves bending. It is very inconsiderate.

Anonymous said...

Recieved 2 days prior to the test? That's total BS.

Maybe someone should e-mail Fredreickson to remind him about Christmas!

No tests during Kwanza or Hannuka I hope, might spark law suits!

Anonymous said...

Of course, just skip the test and move straight to the flag burning ceremony.

GaryB said...

12:29 - In Wicomico County Schools, tests aren't given on major Jewish Holidays. Can you let us all know if you are against that unwritten policy too? The reason I ask is to know if you are just up in arms over it being a Muslim issue, or if you are/will be equally outraged at all non-Christian holy days having no tests.

Anonymous said...

To 12:29, perhaps you need to re-read the Constitution. The government can't establish any religion, even Christianity. Those who come here come here for freedom, which means freedom to worship as they please. We aren't a Christian theocracy, as you seem to think. The First Amendment protects Muslims just as it does Christians.

Since you don't seem to understand the very basic nature of our Constitution, I'd suggest it is you who should "get the hell out."

Anonymous said...

They are specifically inserting church into state!

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know if Dr. Fredrickson instructed anyone to not have tests or is everyone just assuming he agreed to this? Please get the whole story before going off the deep end.

Anonymous said...

I hope someone corrects Dr Jalisi. It was Isaac, not Ishmael.

Why can't they just excuse any children celebrating the holiday from the test and allow them to make it up another day?

Anonymous said...

12:15
Schools are CLOSED that day for WINTER BREAK. It is NO LONGER called Christmas break. They are not allowed to call it Christmas, they are not allowed to have Christmas trees, they are called holiday trees. We don't have an Easter break anymore it's spring break.

Anonymous said...

the TEST is not the problem, the request to EDUCATE their children about EID UL ADHA is. if fredrickson instructed poeple to teach, people will be up in arms. funny how the muslim world says it was Ishmael who was gonna be sacrificed, not Isasc. TOO funny. islam subverts EVERYTHING this nation was BUILT upon.

oh, there is no LONGER a mention of christmas break, the school system calls it WINTER break and SPRING break, they do NOT refer to it as "Christ"mas or EASTER. its a DOUBLE standard.

Anonymous said...

12:37. - Thank you for bringing a little sanity into this discussion.

Anonymous said...

12:37. your only half right
the constitution states "congress shall make no law" it does not say anything about the states
if they so wanted a state legislature could have an official state religion
unless the state consitution said otherwise

i beleive this is pointed out in the federalist papers

Anonymous said...

Matters not 1:03 Bottom line is Federal law trumps state law, just as states that have legalized medical marijuana are very aware that they are still breaking federal law.

Anonymous said...

why would the islamic priest call on an infidel to do something, the quarn tells islamics to kill the infidels. sounds strange to me. thanks sjd

Anonymous said...

Funny president of the muslim council doen't even know his own religion, yet he can try to dictate policy in our school system.

I'm not laughing.

GaryB said...

12:29 - You do realize that Maryland's early history is based on inta-Christianity intolerance between Catholics and Protestants? There was no melting pot, even when the Tolerance Act was in effect. Folks could come to Maryland but were banned from proclaiming obedience to the Pope.

And your last line, "People should not come here and expect to benefit from all our good without they themselves bending," reminds me of what a slave owner would say in the 1800s or what a human trafficker would say today.

Anonymous said...

LOL 12:37. Where did anyone say this is an issue about the gov't attempting to "establish" a religion? By Fredrickson issuing this order he is as a matter of fact inserting religion into the govenment's public school system isn't he? No testing on a Muslim religious day sure IS injecting religion into govenment.
No where did anyone say Muslims can not worship as they please-FYI either. They are free to worship as they please and if they please they can also keep their child home from school on that day but don't dictate to the school system what to do.
As far as I am concerned they can get the hell out and go back to the Middle East which is a cesspool of terrorism all due to religion and the lack of freedom to worship and extremists who dictate what the schools are to do and not to do.

Anonymous said...

1. Principals and teachers were directed to comply as of late yesterday afternoon. Major county tests (benchmarks) scheduled for today were postponed to meet the last-minute directive.
2. Jewish holidays have to be submitted to the board prior to the opening of school each year, not one day before they occur.
3. Why would the Muslim Council have waited so long to notify the school system of its request? Surely, they could have submitted theirs before school started as others are required to do.

Queensgirl52 said...

Public schools close for Holy Thursday and Good Friday even though many Christians do not participate in religious observances on those days and many churches have evening services for the benefit of those who aren't free during the day. Does anyone have a problem with that?

Anonymous said...

Joe.....speaking as an administrator in the county school system, we had no such directive. As a matter of fact, reading benchmark assessments have been administered throughout the county today. Has been a non-issue.

Anonymous said...

we dont schedule athletic contest on Jewish holidays. Yes less then 5% of our students are jewish in the system. But we schedule athletics on Good Friday as well as Ash Wednesday.

Anonymous said...

GaryB-alot of schools are closed on Jewish holidays. It's a matter of demographics and not all schools are closed or alter their normal schedules for Jewish students.
Common sense and logic should dictate the decorum a school system follows and not political correctness. If an area is heavily secular to a particular religion and the classroom would be basically empty on certain holidays then make changes. Don't make them because of a handful of people.

Anonymous said...

To Gary B:
Dates of the two Jewish holidays have to be submitted to the board before the opening of the school year. Those dates are on the calendar when school opens. Major tests are not scheduled on those two days. There is a difference between not scheduling a test on a given day and cancelling scheduled tests (final tests of the first marking period and county benchmarks) to meet a very last-minute directive. Testing could have been done yesterday if the "holiday" had been known in advance as other groups have to do. Who waits so late to make such a request?

GaryB said...

1:03 -

You are correct, but some interpretations of the 14th Amendment, "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States," say that this could include a state having an official religion. This, to my knowledge, has never been pressed.

Some early state constitutions did recognize a church, such as Connecticut, until a slew of states, mostly the original colonies, redid their constitutions in the 1800s.

Anonymous said...

Wow 12:37 Fredrickson just did exactly what you commented against. He's injected religion into the government.
Schools were and are closed on Christmas because school systems long ago realized 99% of the classrooms would be empty on that day-a decision based on common sense.

GaryB said...

1:36 -

You are making a different argument than what many on this board are. You are saying the policy is "X." You didn't follow policy, too bad. I buy into your argument to the extent that tests are actually scheduled today and not through the end of the marking period.

Most others on this board, if they found out a request was made pursuant to the policy in, and granted, for a Muslim holiday, would be saying the same things as they are now.

Anonymous said...

"Who waits so late to make such a request?"

A follower that's who, 1:36 and someone who isn't doing their job but is taking the easy way out. Decisons like these should be based solely on demographics, otherwise it does become a decision based on religion, something the public school system has no business being in.

Anonymous said...

we have the muslims due to the disobediance of Sarah. she gave her handmaiden to Abraham and Ishmael was born, the 'father' of the islam nation. not obeying GOD's instruction has caused us many heartaches, and this is just one in a long line.

Anonymous said...

Hey, 1:17,

Read this:
Amendment X
" The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

P.S. This is from the Bill of Rights...Ratified Dec. 15, 1791, and still in play today!

Anonymous said...

12:15 dec. 25 is a holiday no school so how do you do test if no school

Anonymous said...

Oh for Gods sake, both my kids had cancelled bench mark tests today with no reason given now we know why.
As to teaching the kids about this holiday in school today I don't have a problem with it at all as long as the younger kids can go ahead and celebrate Halloween next week and the teachers can teach about all other religious holidays including the Christian ones.
Sick and tired of concessions been made for minorities and the majorities having to ignore their religion for fear of hurting someones feelings.
Total B.S

Anonymous said...

The majority turn Muslim after their first incarnation in prison.

Anonymous said...

So the schools are teaching our children about a Muslim animal sacrificing ritual?

Anonymous said...

12:37 it seems YOU My Dear aren't understanding the very basics of the Constitution. By bending to a few not only are you, but also Fredricksen are "establishing a religion" in the public school system. If and when this holiday becomes a big disruption to the school system as opposed to a minor inconvience then you start making changes.

Anonymous said...

The children didn't go to school. They went for prayer and then home for the big holiday. A farmer down in Pocomoke made $$$ on this holiday. They purchased baby lambs to slaughter for tonight's big feast. I heard of the details this morning.

Anonymous said...

So when a minority of the people disagree with something or want something changed we have to do it so we don't hurt their feelings. Yet when the majority want to keep something the way it is we can't because of the minority. This makes NO SENSE!
Their entire calendar is based on the moon. They knew well in advance about this holiday and they wait until a week before it to say something about it?

JoeAlbero said...

I want to make this clear to every one.

This letter may have certain dates on it but you should know that the teachers weren't made aware of it until last night and this morning.

Anonymous said...

Wow, If I had known our school systems were so easy to manipulate I would have founded my own religion in highschool that forbade testing on any day of the week!

Anonymous said...

they need to replace Dr. John Fredericksen if this has happen

Anonymous said...

Exactly~~~ when we change something for a small minority that would cause only a minor inconvience in the schools then we are doing it for religious reasons which has no place in the public school system. This decison should have been based solely on the disruption it may have caused in individual classrooms. I would wager to guess quite a few don't even have Muslim students in them.

Jackie said...

I am livid, my daughter just texted me about this. My first thought was, I want to see this damn letter. Sure enough, I knew I'd find it here. I'm so angry about this....excellent comments thus far!!

JoeAlbero said...

anonymous 2:55, we not only were the only ones to publish this information but we did the same yesterday with the exclusive story on how Teachers have been instructed not to voice any opinions about the upcoming presidential election.

This is one of the key reasons I do what I do here on Salisbury News. What your fed by the local liberal media, (or should I say, not fed) are stories and information like this.

GaryB said...

2:33 - Your argument lacks any logic.

If the Board of Ed has "established" a religion by not having tests today, then the Board of Ed has "established" a religion by not having exams on Jewish holidays (as 1:36 indicated, and do you feel that's a big disturbance?) or on Good Friday. By your logic, the Board of Ed has now established Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as religions. Who knows, by having Halloween parties, maybe you think we have established Wicca as a state religion too?

So are you Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, or other? Trying to figure out what religion you follow that hasn't been established already by the Board of Ed to see why you are so up in arms.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, the Christians are all in a uproar. Since you have so much disdain for anything other than your God. Let's go ahead and make kids go to school for all of the lovely Christian holidays we celebrate. Oh wait, that wouldn't be fair. Good gracious! Everyday we go back 10 steps in this area. Every single day. The world is made up of many people in case you didn't notice. If we have to make concessions for Christians, then suck it up and understand concessions must be made for others. OR we need to do away with all religous based holidays and such in the schools, then everyone can be equally excluded.

Anonymous said...

The funnniest is this guy wants the teachers to instuct the students about this holiday that chances are the teachers know nothing about themselves. The MD Muslim council needs to get a new president.

Anonymous said...

3:08
They do NOT close the school for Christian holidays. They close them for WINTER BREAK and SPRING BREAK. Sorry you can't tell us we can't have a CHRISTMAS tree or a CHRISTMAS program then say it's ok for the schools to stop testing for another holiday of another religion.

Anonymous said...

3:08 This is a Christian nation and we love our pork chops !

Anonymous said...

I guess the letter didn't make it to Salisbury Middle School. My kid had two tests today.

Anonymous said...

I don't practice any religion GaryB. When I die send in a priest, a rabbi, a mullah, etc. Send them all in to give last rights because I have no idea who is right and who is wrong and I don't want to take any chances!

My point is you do not make public school decisons Christian-Muslim-Jewish or otherwise on nothing other than the disruption it may cause otherwise preference is being shown. When preference is shown then the gov't is injecting religion into schools. Schools were closed on Christmas due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of students would have stayed home that day. When a few choose to stay home for a religious holiday they should not alter the routine otherwise they are doing it for religious reasons and nothing else.

Anonymous said...

I think many are missing the point here in regard to religion and all that. As teachers they are not against teaching about various cultures and religions, or educating the students as to other cultures holidays and celebrations of those holidays. I would think the big beef here is that other celebrations have been removed from public education. But now we have allowed special groups to come in and tell the board that teachers cannot discuss their views on politics, and that they should not test today or next week. What a can of worms we will have opened if during Black History month the sons of the confederation come in and tells us that they find many have been teaching their views on slavery, and that NO teacher is to be sharing their views on the war or on slavery. What if every special group dictated to the board what can and cannot be taught. This is not about religion or church and state it is about one group promoting themselves over another, which is very wrong. This year at Christmas time what will the board do if christen groups send the board a directive that this is a very important holiday and want the holiday taught in the classroom. Seems we just got a dose of both sides of the coin, NAACP says you cannot discuss issues about a black president, and now teachers are being asked to educate students about this holiday. You will not find any announcement about Pearl Harbor day, veterans day, d day, why this day? In 20 years there has never been a directive to not discuss the presidential election, this year a biased black supervisor and a special group ganged up to make it a directive. Keep in mind it cannot be both ways, special groups and their agenda have no right to limit the education of your students.

Anonymous said...

Did the Council not realize the holiday was only one day away by the time the letter was received? Why wait so late if this is an important date in the Muslim calendar? Any group can be guility of poor planning and organization whether it's a religious group or not.

Anonymous said...

No one is making anyone go to school on this date 3:08. Students are excused from being absent for religious holidays-FYI. The reason schools are closed for Christmas is because they would be 99% empty on that day so they went ahead and closed them. It has nothing to do with making concessions for christians. This decision long ago was based on common sense and logic. What logic is behind rescheduling testing for this day? And remember the logic can not be based on religious reasons otherwise then we are mixing religion with government.

Anonymous said...

Exactly 3:44.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
12:05.....We don't schedule any tests on Christmas Day do we? Is that separation of church and state?

October 26, 2012 12:15 PM

Hey Dumb A$$. We aren't in school on Christmas Day!!

Anonymous said...

If anyone wondered why the general public bashes the public school system, all you have to do is look at this situation and the one from your OCT 24th blog email telling teachers not to talk politics in their classrooms.Here is the interesting thing though. These two situations were crated by liberals that think you can't hurt anyone's feelings, then the right wing media reports on this and everyone with a remotely working brain gets rightful pissed off.Then the left wing media says, see all these nasty right wingers are insensitive to peoples feelings. When in the hell are people going to wake up and see that the only people that make sense are conservative minded people.

Anonymous said...

I have a stupid idea, How about this, if you miss a day from school for any reason, you have five days to make up what you missed. Oh they already have that in place. Once again, we don't need new rules just follow the one that are on the books!!!! enough ALREADY.

Anonymous said...

well I sent a letter to frederickson and townsend and to the principle of my daughters school and blind cc to a couple of other person. basically i said people can make request all day long, But the school shall not instruct my child on faith and God. If persons want chistianity to be quite, will the budist, the athist, the jews, islam can all stay quite at school also. yes my spelling is really bad right now,I have requested a responce on how Mr. Frederickson shall handle this.

I understand we have different cultures and relgions, but you can not say no to one group and yes to another. I hope i am making since.

Anyway

Chris said...

Religion should be taken out of schools altogether. Religion has nothing to do with knowledge. If anything, Religion hurts knowledge by putting false information and "beliefs" into our children's brains without even providing proof of these stories people enjoy telling, Religious or not, everyone would be lying if they didn't agree that a world without these "stories" called religion, the world would be a much better place because we wouldn't be having stupid arguments such as the one being discussed right now.

Anonymous said...

This type of "policy" of changing things around is liberalism and is hypocracy at it's finest because IT IS injecting religion into the government. This decision is purely made on religious reasons and nothing else. Logic SHOULD be the reason and it is not logical to think that more than a handful of students who observe this holiday are going to be absent from school on this day so testing should not be postponed as it's not a disruption to have a few students make up a test.

thomas augustus littleton said...

The Bible says Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac, not Ishmael. Isaac was his legitimate son with his wife. being willing to sacrifice his bastard by Hagar wouldn't have been the same.



Anonymous said...

My child took the reading benchmark today at school. Good for them for not cowering to this request.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Fredericksen could have said the information about the holiday would be included in the calendar for next school year, but receiving the request on the 24th made it too disruptive to planned testing to honor today. He could have stated that, as is our policy, children who miss school for religious reasons would have the absence counted as excused. Honest, respectful response.

Ryan Lewis said...

Wow people just wow. I am a firm christian believer but how can you deny the right of other religions. They are not asking for much just one day not to have test so that they may fully enjoy another right we have, a right of education. Yes America was founded on Christianity but now America is based on freedom of religion. And to those fellow Christians out there blasting other religions for their beliefs (which some of those beliefs are practiced by extremist and is controlled by other foreign government ) how dare you. Have some respect for others you are the reason christian are looked poorly. And what is wrong with some religious education in schools. I think a world religion elective class would be great in a high school setting. Even if you learn about another religion that is not your own their are still good aspects you can take away from it that would make your owns believes stronger. Yes I do want to put my name here and feel free to contact me in anyway to discuss this further.

Anonymous said...

You are all missing the point. This movement "islam" is here with a purpose: to take over the world. They have already started here, and have a great chance of succeeding in the not-too-distant future. All of us who do not recognize their purpose AND what will happen to all of us when they take over are just as guilty as the muslims.

Thanks, Joe, for providing a forum for free speech. All you defenders of islam, brace yourselves for what will happen if they take over. Free speech in muslim society? Forget it, folks. Not to mention all the other freedoms we would lose. And this is how they start, with little baby steps here and there, counting on their defenders to make excuses for them. Check out the changes they have made to English and French societies of late. You want that here? It's coming.

So go ahead, defend these monsters, for your various reasons. Watering down the Judeo-Christian influence, coddling muslims so they'll join your political party, promoting tolerance and political correctness...it does not matter to them, for when they are in control, you are in for the shock of your lives. They will not show you the same tolerance you showed them, regardless of how nice you were to them before.

It is shocking how naive some of us really are.

Anonymous said...

They took their benchmark test at my daughters school today.

Anonymous said...

12:15...you can't have it both ways. There is no Christmas celebration or taking off for Christmas. It has been forbidden to make any reference to any Christian holiday because of the seperation of church and state. It is winter vacation and spring break. Suck on that for a while.

Anonymous said...

Now the schoola will promote the conversion to Islam!

Anonymous said...

"a right of education?" Never heard of that right. It's a requirement due to legislation (kinda like paying taxes are) that all children are schooled whether it be home, public or a private but as far as a right I don't think so, but that's another debate.

Unknown said...

Okay, I read about 1/3 of the comments here and am about to go to bed, but before I go, I want everyone to know that the commenter calling himself "GaryB" is not me and I do not know him nor condone his remarks! I think you all know that I am very conservative with mine.

Anonymous said...

Ryan,world religion would be a great environment in a world religion class,but not in the entire school system.secondly the problemis that you want special treatment not equal treatment. There is a difference. Don't you get it?

Anonymous said...

52 of the 56 signers of our constitution were preachers and the first Bible ever printed in the United States of America was printed by the government for the government and the schools.lets not forget that they prayed for hours before the start of every congressional session during the time the constitution was written but do not take my word for it is all in the library of congress records take the time and see it for yourself. Our founding fathers were Strong Christian Men and built this country IN GOD WE TRUST The GOD of the CHRISTIAN BIBLE. Jason J. Coulbourne

Anonymous said...

John Adams a Founding Father of the United States, stated so eloquently: "The general principles on which the fathers achieved Independence were ... the general principles of Christianity ... I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that the general principles of Christianity are as etemal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God."

To say that this nation was not founded as a Christian nation or that the Constitution was not founded on Christian principles is totally at odds with the facts of history.

Anonymous said...

dittos to 9:39. i have an extensive personal library to give credence to these facts.

unfortunately our government schools no longer teach the truths of our founding. many of the younger teachers weren't taught these truths either. so sad for our nation today.

we have a lot of work to do. we must continue to speak out, write, teach, educate with facts.

Anonymous said...

Give me a frigging break, I'm sure the founding father's of this great country would turn upside down in their graves if they could read this B.S. Well the prophet they call Mohammad or what ever its name is, can go.........I'll leave it at that..

Anonymous said...

Give me a break. This has got to be a joke. We can't expresse views or have "christmas" celebrations in our schools, but we can shove muslim ideaolgy down our childrens throats and give those who need to "fullfill thier obligations" off? I think we need to make a holiday for our kids to pay tribute to those who have and continue to make sacrifices that stem from muslim extremism! How about we leave the school system alone and let them focus on catching up with the rest of the world, and focus less on what is politically correct? Leave the religous views out of school and let the parents be parents and teach thier children about religious principles!!!

Anonymous said...

Will there be any animals sacrificed during this holiday Muslim holiday???

Anonymous said...

Those who bless Israel will be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed. The USA used to be loaners, now we are borrowers. The USA used to be exporters, now we're importers. The country has fallen away from the True living God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God has a plan...Jesus!(Colossian 2.2)Not mohammed!Get a Bible and study it!

Anonymous said...

I will not bend or bow to another religion that worships satan.
NAACP has made a bad choice , they will all be in hell. Maybe that's a good thing.

Anonymous said...

Here is what I have to say about the Islamic belief - Edit of Adha.

If the muslims are so bent on excluding their youth from current US standards - then they should seriously consider going back to where they came from.

Now here is my final point about Muslim Edit of Adha;

God early and clearly commanded the descendants of Abraham not to have any other gods besides him ( Exod 20:3 ). This strict, undivided loyalty was the basis of the covenant relationship God established between himself and the people of Israel.

The cult of Baal involved the offering of many animal sacrifices.
Thus the real God was substituted by Baal worship and we all know of the famous story of what happened in the end to Baal worship.

To the BOE & School teachers - here is the story:

Elijah sends down Fire from Heaven
and kills the prophets of Baal
In the third year of the drought, God sent Elijah back to King Ahab where Elias challenged 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to a contest to see whose God could send down fire from heaven to consume a sacrificed bull. The false prophets prayed to Baal but their god was unable to start a fire. Elijah then built an altar of twelve stones to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel. He then had 4 jars filled with water which were poured over the wood and the cut-up bull three times. Elijah then called on God to send down fire on the water soaked offering. God then sent down fire to Elijah's altar to consume the offering and win the contest. The people then killed the prophets of Baal and abandoned their idolatry. God in turn immediately ended the drought by bringing a great rainstorm (1 Kings 18:1-46).

The God of Israel was thus proved to be a God of fire, more powerful than the sun-god Baal.

NOTE FROM THIS COMMENTER:

'THOSE THAT IGNORE HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT.'

Anonymous said...

The entire Muslim faith is legacy of outcasts.Read your history people.They are a doomed,cursed and evil people.

Spencer Tilghman said...

First of all, I would like to say that all of the disgustingly racist comments on this post make me sick to my stomach. The number of you complete morons who have no respect for your fellow human being is absolutely unbelievable. This sort of ignorant prejudice is exactly the reason education on religious holidays would be beneficial. If you read the letter, it explains that this holiday is about Abraham and Isaac, in a story which both Christians and Jews also believe in.
I go to Bennett High School, and while I am not Muslim, many of my friends are. Contrary to what you appear to believe, they are in fact very nice and completely normal people.
Racism aside, I don't understand what is wrong with cutting down the number of tests that will be taken on a day when a considerable percentage of the student population will be absent. There are over a billion Muslims around the world, and they are decently represented in our schools. To me, it seems perfectly reasonable to try to limit the amount of make up work which will be assigned to these students upon their return.

Spencer Tilghman said...

***Correction:
In my previous comment I said that Eid was about Abraham and Isaac. In fact, it is about Abraham and Ishmael. The meaning of my comment remains the same, however.

Anonymous said...

Spencer, It is not about Muslims it is about the difficultyes imposed on Jews and Christians when it comes to teaching our faith in the schools. Go to your principle and ask about starting a Christian or Jewish student club or ask them to teach about the meaning of Christmas and then young man you will know what the fuss is all about

Anonymous said...

The question is still why the council waited so long to make the request. Why does one religion have to submit its dates before the school year starts and another can wait until the day before the holiday itself?

Mohammed said...

Screw Islam.

Anonymous said...

OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!
We'd better get over this pc mess before it's too late!

Anonymous said...

This is the simple truth people - it IS NOT on the agenda of other religions to take down America - in which Islam is on a mission to do. Just simply look at the condition of Europe; England & France in particular, Muslims want Shahria (sp) Law to be the rule of the world. Why can't you liberals SEE that. Most of us Christians do not have a problem with other religious belief systems - lib's ! take your head out of the sand and look around, your do-right feel-good idea's are going to be-head you! This is the United States of America, the land that I love ! Lib's - if you continue to think and push for all this tolerance YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO YOUR COUNTRY! PERIOD !!!

Safa said...

Well thank you Spencer for speaking some sense. I was starting to lose hope from our Christian friends here and Americans in general.
I understand why the hatred and spiteful words come out because of fox news and CNN being the primary source of knowledge for many. As we all know an average american spends half of his life in front of a TV, it gets very hard to get common facts straight from a library or other research methods.

With that said, Im pretty sure the Bible has Abraham and Isaac and Jacob mentioned in it too. If we celebrate the acts of the same Prophet Jesus believed in too and Bible talks about it, why is it such a worry? Plus this sweetheart of a person just wanted to educate a practice we muslims follow we arent enforcing it or asking you guys to join us (which you all are very welcomed to, we have some really awesome exotic food and it is 100% tested safe b the FDA too) . Isnt America so proud to have diversity? America was found on diversity and lives ond iversity, you have Hindus celebrating Spring with messy colours and what not. You have Christmas that even muslims sometimes join and celebrate with you. Pls take some time and visit your muslim neighbour to see what actually happens so that your fear of muslims gets waved off.

Anonymous said...

spcencer, Why don't you move to the middle east and work on getting some excused holidays for christens. Also, see how safe you are over there while your looking for equality. Your part of the problem. I'll buy you a one way ticket.

Anonymous said...

Safa, with all due respect, every problem area in the world has ONE THING IN COMMON. Extreme Muslims that can't even be held in check by their own kind. PERIOD

Safa said...

So this letter that was written talks about any sort of extreme? all it talks about is educating the uninformed. Why is it such a problem if someone is informing you about their culture/religion. I mean, if someone does not do that then it is a problem, we Muslims want everyone to see us in the right light. Media hasnt done us any justice. You talk about extreme muslims? In Islam there is no extremism. Living a life with principals is called following disciplined life not extremism sir. Unfortunatey, there have been people who have wronged the image of islam and people dont realize that. The shooting in Colarado, it wasnt labeled an act of terrorism or anything when it actually killed and threatened a lot of people. Similarly, many incidents take place but nobody blames the religion but the PERSON. Just because people have not read and understood Islam they have labelled it with things that dont befit it. media will not question the followers but those who arent comfortable with it and hence the wrong image.

But right now dear Mr/Ms Anonymous and all the readers bashing this small letter, please dont get worked up, you dont like Muslims celebrating Eid for reasons that dnt even make sense, thats fine. But allow people to make attempts to educate those around them. Or else people will be stopping the Jehovah's Witnesses too.

Anonymous said...

You failed to talk about the facts mentioned in my previous comment. I do agree with a lot of what you just said. But the facts are the facts.

Anonymous said...

Safa - you may be a nice person, BUT here's the problem; Muslim's are allowed - even instructed and encouraged to lie and deceive in order to "win over" other people if they're not Muslim in order to fool us. Muslims may fool some but not me and many others like me, we know your mission, and we hope and pray to the One and only true God that it is His will you not complete your mission, but His will be done. If there is ONE true test or question that would prove to none-Muslims that you all are not against American ideals and if you lied about it would keep you out of heaven - what is it ?

Anonymous said...

Reference to 8:59 AM's Comment

Amen brother. I'm with you.
The Muslims are attempting to re-write history.

Anonymous said...

Aren't the schools closed Nov.1st.? That's "All Saints Day" in the Catholic church. All Catholic kids should be attending church. Don't schedule any testing during church time. Guess we'll be checking all religious calendars prior to making up the school calendar to make sure no one is left out. We are so Political Correct it's sickening.