THERE’S AN EASY SOLUTION
Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Christian — each faith has its holy days. Schools across the country are asking how to respect them all.
…It can get complicated. When Muslims in the Tampa Bay region of Florida asked for a day off to celebrate the end of Ramadan, another local religious group perked up.
“There was discussion in the Hindu community if we should also push for a holiday,” said Nikhil Joshi, a board member of the national Hindu American Foundation.
Parents for whom religious holidays are important could choose schools that recognized those days. Or they could homeschool.
As long as the government is picking which religious holidays are important enough to close the schools, we’re going to be faced with minorities having to choose school or God. In a diverse society, that’s a recipe for strife.
6 Responses to “THERE’S AN EASY SOLUTION”
 Comment by Daryl Cobranchi July 21st, 2006 at 2:43 pm |
A kid could be in the hospital and the parents still go to jail. Surely hyperbole, right? |
 Comment by Myrtle July 21st, 2006 at 5:37 pm |
I want a school that recognizes Saturnalia. |
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Comment by Daryl Cobranchi July 21st, 2006 at 9:38 pm |
I think I’ve permanently disabled gravatars. All experiments are successes as long as you’ve learned something. UPDATE: Nope. Still working. But not hanging. It’ll have to wait until Sunday at the earliest as I’m on the road for a day or two. |
 Comment by freerangelife July 22nd, 2006 at 11:30 am |
“I want a school that recognizes Talk Like A Pirate Day.” The g-schools here recognize it. They all dress up like pirates and do pirate-y things all day (Disney version only, of course; no actual looting, raping, or killing takes place as far as I know . . . or at least not in direct connection with it being Talk Like a Pirate Day). |
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Comment by Myrtle July 22nd, 2006 at 4:58 pm |
no actual looting, raping, or killing takes place as far as I know Ethnocentric bigots. Even when they recognize someone else’s holiday they only pay lip service to it. |
 Comment by sahhsm July 25th, 2006 at 1:31 am |
I vote for a form of school PTO!!! Kids could bank time in and take time off during the year for their own holidays. It works in the business world – give them a taste of reality! |