All Comments (20)

Dear Hadia,

"Nothing captures the spirit of such accommodation better than the reaction of the Muslim community in Hillsborough County, Fla., when the County School Board decided to eliminate all religious holidays rather than accommodate the request of Muslim students and parents to recognize Eid as an official holiday.

Please note:

House Resolution 245

110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 245

Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2007

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Mr. MCDERMOTT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

RESOLUTION
Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali.

Whereas Diwali, a festival of great significance to Indian Americans and South Asian Americans, is celebrated annually by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains throughout the United States;

Whereas there are nearly 2,000,000 Hindus in the United States, of which approximately 1,250,000 are of Indian and South Asian origin;

Whereas the word `Diwali' is a shortened version of the Sanskrit term `Deepavali', which means `a row of lamps';

Whereas Diwali is a festival of lights, during which celebrants light small oil lamps, place them around the home, and pray for health, knowledge, and peace;

Whereas celebrants of Diwali believe that the rows of lamps symbolize the light within the individual that rids the soul of the darkness of ignorance;

Whereas Diwali, falling on the last day of the last month in the lunar calendar, is celebrated as a day of thanksgiving and the beginning of the new year for many Hindus;

Whereas for Hindus, Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil;

Whereas for Sikhs, Diwali is feted as the day that the sixth founding Sikh Guru, or revered teacher, Guru Hargobind, was released from captivity by the Mughal Emperor Jehangir; and

Whereas for Jains, Diwali marks the anniversary of the attainment of moksha or liberation by Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankaras, who were the great teachers of Jain dharma, at the end of his life in 527 B.C.: Now, therefore, be it

(1) recognizes the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali; and

(2) requests the President to issue a proclamation recognizing Diwali.

It may be that Eid will yet be understood and recognized, if Diwali can be. Call upon your representative in Congress to bring this to the floor.

As noted previously, there is "No historical reason for the Christmas season". Therefore the December 25 holiday season should be for all religions etc. since for example there is "No historical reason for Islamic holydays/holidays" either considering the flaws in said religion as noted once again:

Mohammed was an illiterate, womanizing, warmongering, hallucinating Arab who also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

So December 25 thru January 1 should be the holiday season for Christmas, Hanakkuh, Kwanzaa, Eid Al-Fitr, Frosty the Snowman's birthday and New Years.

Now that should make everybody happy!!!

Bedier said *(As Muslims)we're taught to love for others what we love for ourselves*
This is a palaver.This is a myth.This is a sophistry.This is a lie.

Islam,the cult of *smite their necks*,absolutely hates from non-muslims.
Islam,the cult of *strike off their heads*,curses to non-muslims.
Islam,the teaching of *I divorce you*,doesnt know what love is.

You have spectaculary failed to understand what the putting christ back into christmas campaign is all about. It most certainly isn't about freedom of religious belief or public expression.

And since we are mentioning religious belief; it is no more special than any other deeply held belief and as such warrants no more attention, priviledge or accommodation than any other such belief. And as such all beliefs need to be accommodating to the surroundings in which they are expressed.

http://www.cair-florida.org/ViewArticle.asp?Code=PR&ArticleID=513

CAIR SEEKS REINSTATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN, JEWISH SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
11/2/2005

TAMPA MUSLIMS SEEK REINSTATEMENT OF
CHRISTIAN, JEWISH SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

(TAMPA, FL. 11/2/05) - The Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL) today called on the School Board of Hillsborough County to reinstate Christian and Jewish holidays recently removed from the 2006/2007 school calendar.

School board members last week voted to eliminate the holidays following a request by the local Muslim community to schedule a day off on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr.

Speaking before the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, CAIR-FL Central Florida Director Ahmed Bedier announced that his group would officially request the school board to restore the holidays.

Bedier said: 'Reinstate Christian and Jewish holidays even if it means that we don't get our own holiday. . .(as Muslims) we're taught to love for others what we love for ourselves.'

VIEW A CLIP OF BEDIER'S STATEMENT
http://www.cairfl.org/video/051102_hill_cnty_meet2_hi.wmv

Bedier added that the Muslim community opposed the removal of Christian and Jewish holidays from the school calendar.

School calendar will be strictly secular
Hillsborough School Board members vote to end vacation days for all religious holidays.

Published October 26, 2005

TAMPA - Her voice small and hesitant, 11-year-old Rahma Elmohd told Hillsborough School Board members Tuesday night that she "would like it a lot" if students could get one day off for a Muslim holiday.

It was not to be.

Nearly a year after local Muslims first asked that an Islamic holiday be recognized by the school district - just like Yom Kippur for Jews and Good Friday for Christians - board members voted to end vacation days for all religious holidays.

The board approved a 2006-07 calendar that substitutes three secular vacation days for three Christian and Jewish holidays. The vote was 5-1. Board member Carol Kurdell was absent.

About 50 Muslims, many of them women and girls wearing scarves, attended the packed meeting. They said they were disappointed and saddened by the board's vote but will continue to ask for recognition. Several said they worry about a backlash against Muslims.

"We feel like this is an extreme measure," said Ahmed Bedier, Florida director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "We can't say it enough, especially to Christian and Jewish folks, our brothers and sisters in faith: This was not our doing, and we didn't ask for it."

The approved calendar eliminates vacation days coinciding with Yom Kippur, Good Friday and the Monday after Easter. The days will be replaced with time off on Washington's Birthday in February and two days near the end of the school year, which will give students and teachers a four-day weekend.

The calendar is similar to the one used in Pinellas County, which does not time vacation days with religious observances.

The only religious holiday remaining on next year's calendar in Hillsborough is Christmas, which occurs during the district's winter break.

The calendar changes were recommended by a district committee after Bedier asked that Eid al-Fitr - the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan - be included.

Most board members said the secular school calendar is fair because it clearly separates church and state.

School Board member Carolyn Bricklemyer called the approved calendar appropriate. "I think we have accommodated people the best we can," she said.

Bricklemyer was a board member in 2001 when Hillsborough became the first Tampa Bay area school district to recognize a Jewish holiday with a day off.

On Tuesday, she said that was a mistake because it opened the door for other religious groups to request vacation days.

"We should not have done that," Bricklemyer said.

Jennifer Faliero was the only board member to vote against the calendar, saying her colleagues were moving toward suppressing religious expression.

Faliero dismissed School Board attorney Tom Gonzalez's opinion that recognizing religious holidays violates the Constitution.

"Why can't we recognize Eid?" Faliero asked. "I just don't get it."

Audience members applauded.

Before the meeting, Bedier and Chuck Leigh, president of the Florida Council of Churches, held a news conference at the School Administrative Center criticizing the board's stance.

"I think the School Board is doing this for no other reason than to avoid giving a holiday to the Muslims," said Leigh, pastor of the Apostolic Catholic Church in Tampa. "Any other reason is eyewash, and I don't think it fools any of us."

Board member Doretha Edgecomb bristled at accusations that the board was ending all religious holidays to avoid supporting Muslims.

"This is a board of integrity," she said. "We take our jobs seriously. This is not a calendar of oppression. This is not a calendar of denial."

Said board Chairwoman Candy Olson, "I think what we're doing is putting (religion) between parents and children and their community of faith."

The new calendar will allow excused absences for religious observances and will not cost students credit toward perfect attendance awards or exam exemptions. Teachers are asked not to schedule tests or major activities on holidays.

After the vote, dozens of Muslims knelt and prayed toward Mecca outside the building as part of their sunset ritual of Ramadan. Afterward, they ate wraps, fruit and dates in the superintendent's conference room to end their daily fast.

Some board members and administrators joined them.

"You can't be angry," Bedier said. "We have agreed to disagree. There is a calendar vote every year. We'll be back next year."

[Last modified October 26, 2005,

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/26/Hillsborough/School_calendar_will_.shtml

me again daniel- yes, your points are well taken

"and profligate socio-economic phenomenon, which grips the whole month of December,... and dominates, intrusively into every aspect of life for every man, woman, and child in North America, no matter whether they are...."

that was the part there daniel-

i didnt mean to sound offensive-
i thought it a little broad.

Nadia, I think it is safe to assume that that is not what she meant.

My two cents: why demand for religious freedom here when you know countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran would not grant to other religions! And regarding your comments on sameness/oneness, you say that every religion should be given rights according to their religious "requirements", if you will. But your religion says that infidels should be made to submit to islam or be killed. Do you mean to say that that should be allowed here in the US of A???

Victoria

I read Ms Mubaraks complete essay. I wrote my respone myself. I was writing in hyperbole, to sort of dramatize the extremes to which Christmas has gone, and to indicate that it is about 99% secular and 1% religious. And I was trying to make the point that no amount of remorsse or recrimination about the loss of religion in Christmas can undo the monstrosity that it has become, but, even still, anyone can got to church if they want, and celebrate Christmas as a religious day, if that is what they want to do, and the government should just keep out of it all, period.

I read it.

Sorry. I was just speaking in sweeping tones, in general, not necesarily about you. And I wasn't meaning anything against Islam. I was being more self-critical of Christians.

speak for yourself daniel-
im not dominated and intruded upon-

and what muslims are "plaintively crying for recognition"?

where?

i dont think you even read the article.
you just cut and paste from another question.

Eid ul-Adha/Sacrifice Feast

2500 years later from Abraham,they shall say *No,he was not Isaac,but he was Ismael*
Is this rational and reasonable ?

*That is the essence of religious pluralism-so and so alice in wonderland*
Could you please to write any islamic country where non-muslims living like human ?

The Jewish legend,Abraham and Isaac.Happy Holiday.

Before I say anything, I want to state emphatically, that I believe that total and complete "separation of church and state" is the best policy, which means, government enforced religious toleration among the many contending relgious rivals. Of course, many of the religious rivals will complain about this, but truely, it is best for all concerned.

After having said that, I want to agree with Paganplace. Christmas! What a mess.

I had wanted to try and explain it to Ms Mubarak, but i don't think I can. I can't even get my own mind around it, much less explain it to someone else.

Christmas is the conflation of a complex Christian festival with the ancient pagan rites of the Winter Soltice, which was later conflated with the figure of St. Nicolas who was kind to children, which was later conflated with "A Visit from St Nick" and the Coca-Cola advertising campaign to give us "Santa", which was conflated with the novelest Charles Dickens' depiction of Victorian Christmas, which was conflated with the German practices of the Christmas tree, borrowed from Queen Victoria's German husband, Prince Albert, the tree being a pyramid, so it could be lit with candles, without burning any over-hanging branches, which later morphed into electric lights on the tree, which morphed again, to lights, lights, lights, everywhere. And all these many convergences and conflations, then were sucked up into the mighty whirlwind of capitalism and secular materialsm, so that it has balooned and morphed into a truely overwhelming, gigantic, and profligate socio-economic phenomenon, which grips the whole month of December, and dominates, intrusively, into every aspect of life for every man, woman, and child in North America, no matter whether they are Methodits, Moslems, Jews, Catholics, Pagans, or atheists. The plaintive cries of Muslims for some recognition this time of year is just part of this cacophony, barely noticable above the din.

But if people still want to put Christ back into Christmas, they can still go to church, no one is stopping them; it is readily do-able.

So that we can accommodate the history and reality of it all, Ms. Mubarak and the rest of the Georgetown Muslim Propaganda machine's monthly reminder:

A synopsis of the flaws in the foundations of today's contemporary religions:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was probably a mythical character. If he was real, he was at best a combination of at least three men. 1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT. http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm

2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter possibly suffering from hallucinations, has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

3. Mohammed, an illiterate, womanizing, warmongering, hallucinating Arab, also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" aka "pretty wingie, flying, fictional thingies and flying chariots to the koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

This agenda continues as shown by the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic train bombers in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani koranics, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino koranics.
And who funds these acts of terror?

The Islamic Shiite terror theocracy of Iran aka the Third Axis of Evil and also the Sunni "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

4. Luther, Calvin, Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy talking flying fictional thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

5. Hinduism (from an on-line Hindu site)

- "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centered and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’"
The caste/laborer system and cow worship are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."

6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."

"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"

Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circumstances of his life.

Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations, embellishments, lies and myths surrounding the founders of said rules of life.

ms. mubarak expressed it so well-

"That is the essence of religious pluralism – to want others to enjoy the freedoms that you wish for yourself."

if we remove 'religion ' from the statement, it is still true.

does anyone here deny that christians have the right to express their own views if they desire?

sometimes another persons expression may even be anathema to us- but it is part of being in a pluralistic society-

so, we suffer very mild discomforts on occasion because we are striving to be tolerant, and also tolerated!

talking and engaging (and tolerating)only people who look like i look and think like i think-is extreeeeeeeeeemely boooooorrrrrinnnng.

well.... it is!

EID MUBARAK SISTER MUBARAK

i think the sister is pointing out that to quibble about what was doesnt matter-
it is what is- now- and people being able to express who they are now without fear

really insightful and dead on sister

Perhaps, Ms. Mubarak, if you understood that many Western holiday traditions are *not* Christian in origin or from the Christian Bible in the first place, you'd see the 'folly' in putting the 'Christ' back in folk customs that hardline Christians have only co-opted them where they couldn't *obliterate* them.

So many of the customs of Christmas are in fact European cultural traditions grafted into Christianity with plain and clear discomfort: in fact, historically, hardline Christians have hated Christmas so much that they were *blaming the Pagans* for them.

Now it's become a neocon partisan thing to try and paint non-Christians as trying to *take away* these very customs that never were *about* their Jesus in the first place.

They're simply northern European customs that, when the Christians came, some Christians chose to use to *honor* their Jesus.

They were *never* *about* their Jesus, and in America, ...they have become part of the common celebration of the season. So many *Non-Christians* celebrate Christmas for this very reason.

It's not about Christ. It's about the people and the season. The general impression is in fact that the Christian Christ *approves.*

But it's not an idol to him, any more than consumerist excess is really some cosmic drama about *sin.*

It's just the holidays. People.

America, in our case, even.

Not everything is a religious litmus test.

It's sad that some will demand we make one of the secular and cultural portions of this holiday.

Very sad.

Cause I tend to figure you can't honor a Prince of Peace by turning a holiday decoration into a means of trying to conquer in a 'war.'

May all our Gods show us better, this turning of the Wheel.