The term seperation of church and state has been widely used in all facets of life ever since the Supreme Court dug up an old letter written by Thomas Jefferson and applied it to the Constitution. The ACLU has championed the phrase, and used it as a threat to municipalities to prevent the display of the ten commandments, nativity scenes and many other items associated with Christianity. I wonder now, if they will step up to the plate to continue their fight to keep Government and Religion seperate, now that a Government funded school intends on usijng tax dollars to facilitate Muslim prayers.

Welcome and accommodation are the order of the day for the college’s more than 500 Muslim students. The college [Minneapolis Community and Technical College] has worked with local Muslim leaders to ensure that these students’ prayer needs and concerns are adequately addressed, Davis told me.

Muslim prayer is an increasingly controversial issue. Many Muslim students use restroom sinks to wash their feet before prayer. Other students have complained, and one Muslim student fell and injured herself while lifting her foot out of a sink.

Some local Muslim leaders have advised the college staff that washing is not a required practice for students under the circumstances, according to Davis. Nevertheless, he says, he wants to facilitate it for interested students. “It’s like when someone comes to your home, you want to be hospitable,” Davis told me. “We have new members in our community coming here; we want to be hospitable.”

So the college is making plans to use taxpayer funds to install facilities for ritual foot-washing. Staff members are researching options, and a school official will visit a community college in Illinois to view such facilities while attending a conference nearby. College facilities staff members are expected to present a proposal this spring.

Ironically this same article points out that last year a coffee cart was playing music “tied to Christmas”, and school officials quickly sqaushed the practice. MY challenge now to the ACLU is, if you believe in true seperation between church and state, and not just seperation of Christianity and state, send one of your threatening letters to the school in regards to this unconstitutional spending of taxpayer funds.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

ACLU, First Amendment, Religion, Supreme Court