So I have to take the BO, but they can't take scotch breath.

Eh, I already feel bad about the cheap shot.

I can across this story via One Good Move.

From the Middle East Online site, Should Muslims be allowed to impose Islam on Americans?

One of my favorite cities, Minneapolis, is having trouble with it's cabbies. Apparently, on the airport run, the majority of taxi drivers are Muslim (Yeah, their is a tired joke in there.). This has lead to a demand...

Apparently, the cab drivers have provided the Metropolitan Airports Commission with a Fatwa dated June 06, 2006, from the Fatwa department of the local chapter of the Muslim American Society [MAS]. The fatwa proclaims that "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

So they refuse to carry passengers who have alcohol on them.

Now, it is worth noting other Muslims in MN have called the argument merit less, and that it was not intended to deny others the right to...blaspheme, I guess. It is a matter of nor trading or consuming the stuff. So they are on shaky ground in their own religion.

But with groups like MAS, looking to force their views on the rest of the country, it is going to put Muslims in an even more awkward place.

As Dr. Muqtedar Khan said in the article,

The alcohol issue is not really the problem. It is just a tip of the ice berg. It raises a fundamental and critical issue, can Muslims who live in free and democratic societies, simultaneously demand freedom and tolerance for Islam while denying others the same. Can we and should we demand freedom to practice Islam and then turn around and use these same freedoms to impose anachronistic understandings of Islam on others.

What next? Will Muslim doctors working in ER refuse to administer to patients brought in from an accident site or with a heart attack because they have alcohol on their breath? Will Muslim doctors refuse to serve an HIV positive patient because he or she is gay? Will Muslim fire fighters refuse to save people who are caught in a fire in a place that sells alcohol? Will Muslim cops refuse to protect women who do not wear Hijab [head scarf]? Will Muslim teachers refuse to educate children because their mothers do not wear the veil? All of the above would entail supporting sin according to popular Muslim beliefs.

If the cab episode in Minnesota becomes a norm, and MAS could make it so. It claims that it is the biggest Muslim grass roots organization in America; can America then trust Muslims in any job where it is important to treat all people, Muslim and non-Muslim, sinner and Imam equally? Since 98% of Americans are non-Muslims, I am sure they routinely commit acts which according to Islam are sins, such as worshipping Jesus. Will Muslims stop doing business with them?

Can Muslims live with those who do not share their beliefs?

This is an important debate, especially for Muslim immigrants, who come to America with their religious baggage. Are we here to give our families a better life or are we here to convert America into an Afghanistan under the Taliban? Do we want to use American freedoms to learn about Islam and practice it in an intimidation free environment, or use it to spread the disease of religious intolerance? Will Muslim presence in America strengthen it or subvert it?


And that is the problem. As it is we have to deal with Christian pharmacist who refuse to serve customers. Not to mention the Christian schools churning out people with a poor understanding of the sciences, a determination to fill the legal field with "right" thinkers (and then the courts), and...did I mention the poor understanding of science, that distrust of the scientific method? Good.

This country may have had many "Christian" involved in its founding, but that is a far cry from being a Christian nation. We are not and should not be obligied to one hold book, or another, one quaint philosophy, or another. And that goes for Islam as well. This country should respect peoples beleifs. That means let them pray and live their lives. But when it means I can't go about my life freely, have to walk home from the airport, can't get medical aid, and I COULD GO ON... That is plainly wrong.

It is sad to see a group like this acting out...with their fatwa. It is important to be aware, and for their fellow Muslims to be sure they don't sit quiet and let these folks speak for them. As the good doctor says, they are as threatened as the rest of us.


And if this starts the discussion on the silly Christian laws (like no alcohol sales on Sundays), then let us get this started.