Update on CAIR from the FBI here.
That title is the key point I took away from this update on the religious accommodation conflict that began in Greeley, CO several weeks ago. If you are new to RRW, go to our category entitled Greeley/Swift/Somali controversy here. This story from the Denver Post, thanks to Whuptdue, begins with a discussion about how Jews and Muslims both want more workplace accommodation of religious practices.
In response to the firings [by Swift in Greeley], both national Islamic and Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, have urged respect for religious practices in the increasingly diverse workplace.
“This is a core issue for us. Everybody in our society should have the same freedom to worship or not worship as they choose without interference from the government or an employer,” said Bruce DeBoskey, director of ADL’s Mountain States Region.
“Yet we see people losing jobs. We see people have to use vacation to celebrate their high holy days. We see people docked pay,” DeBoskey said. “Most employers follow the law, but violations are still common occurrences.”
I don’t know what the big deal is, why is it a problem for a worker to use a vacation day to celebrate an important religious event? Are we going to have every business in America close for every obscure holiday? Hey, here’s a thought, wonder how Muslim workers would feel if things were closed down on that important Wiccan religious day called Halloween?
Another solution that seems so obvious to me is to give each worker maybe 2 or 3 days a year to choose which religious days they want to celebrate. But, I guess that would be too simple.
As I said in a previous post, I believe everything has quieted down in Greeley and Grand Island, NE because CAIR is now working its magic behind the scenes. They know that it simply won’t do to have the minorities, the grievance groups, all at each others throats. If you are new to the issue, Hispanics, Sudanese and Vietnamese all walked out to protest Somali demands at the Swift plants.
For Muslims, the most difficult issue is typified by what happened at the Greeley slaughterhouse — a dispute over what is adequate accommodation of prayer in factory or assembly-line work.
“That’s our toughest nut to crack in terms of religious accommodation,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
It’s a year-round issue that tends to peak during Ramadan, Hooper said, when Muslims are perhaps more mindful of their devotional duties.
During the lunar month of Ramadan, Muslims are required to fast from break of dawn to sunset, then to perform sunset prayers — one of five prayer times required of Muslims every day.
Most work schedules mean Muslim employees will need to pray two to three times a day in the workplace.
Negotiations between Swift and the workers broke down when the evening break that Swift offered did not coincide with sundown. Non-Muslim workers, many of them Mexican, complained about their added workload when Muslims were given special breaks, said Ahmed Mohamud, one of the fired workers.
“We are trying to learn how Latinos and Somalis can work peacefully together, respecting each other,” Mohamud said.
CAIR knows you gotta shut up those Latinos and get them back on the right side (CAIR’s side)! Afterall, the enemy is white Christian America, right Mr. Hooper?