GERMAN COURT RULES MUSLIM GIRL CAN'T SKIP SWIMMING LESSONS

[Penn]

This could have been in the “are we at war Thread”, but I thought that it belong in soapbox discussion, as it pertains to state rights vs. religion. What interests me is the act of a European state to take a specific state rights approach to the wave of muslin demands that have been and are being forced western Judeo-Christian society. The failure of the EU to stand up to the mohammad drawing is a prime example. Germany deserves an “attaboy”.

FOX NEWS
Thursday, May 08, 2008

GERMAN COURT RULES MUSLIM GIRL CAN'T SKIP SWIMMING LESSONS

A German court on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim student cannot skip co-ed swimming lessons because her religion prohibits form-fitting clothes that do not cover her body, The Local reported.
The 12-year-old girl’s parents sued a school in the northern city of Remscheid after it refused to let the girl skip the lessons. The court sided with the school, saying that the state’s responsibility to educate the girl outweighed an infringement on her religious freedom.
Last year the girl’s parents rejected an offer from the school saying she could swim in leggings and a T-shirt. They argued that her body still would be visible through wet clothes, The Local reported.
The court concluded that because the swim lessons take place in water, there would be very little time that her body would be seen.
The parents’ attorney said the family will appeal the decision.

[SF_BHT]

Hell if they do not want to learn to swim ship them back to the desert.....

[lksteve]

Originally Posted by SF_BHT

Hell if they do not want to learn to swim ship them back to the desert.....

Let off a boat a quarter mile from shore...

[kgoerz]

I was thinking that the US should follow Germany's lead. But I forgot most US Public Schools don't have Gym class anymore. My kids private school has two hours of Gym three days a week and one hour a day for the other two days. They even play the ultra violent Game of Dodgball

[bvoss]

"What interests me is the act of a European state to take a specific state rights approach to the wave of muslin demands that have been and are being forced western Judeo-Christian society."

Yes, they are Muslim demands in a predominately Judeo-Christian society, but democracies are supposed to foster and encourage diversity in their populace. So the fact that it is Muslim shouldn't be as much of a concern as opposed to how it actually applies to the principles of Germany's constitution and how their law applies to the event.

If you are looking to assimilate a large and growing minority into your population, this hardly seems like the decision in promoting that. When I was in high school, a girl didn't feel comfortable to swim because of her body shape and the fit of the suit. The school put her on a work out plan and had her write a report about swimming while the rest of us had fun in the water. The current incident reeks of xenophobia and raises an interesting question: Would the girl have been exempt from swim class if she was Jewish or Christian and her religion forbade her in one shape or form? I fear the answer would more commonly be yes, especially in Germany
(interesting example of how politics and religion intersect in Germany)

I'm not so sure that Muslims are forcing demands on to Western society any more than any Westerner would try to force demands on his own government. How many times have you seen a punk school kid suing his school because the teacher told him to go home and change out of his clothes they feel are inappropriate . The problem is not with the Muslims, its with the Liberal judges and the disintegration of school authority.

This seems like an incident that could've easily been settled before taken to court. What happened in the U.S. is that one student sued and won for whatever it is he wanted in the public school, and now every student feels he has a "right" to challenge the rule of the school.

I support the German court's decision purely based on school authority. God help them if Germany's judges feel like the school can't exercise the authority they see fit on their students. I don't want them to take the road the U.S. has.

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Penn

A German court on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim student cannot skip co-ed swimming lessons because her religion prohibits form-fitting clothes that do not cover her body, The Local reported.

Guys,

I think the big issue here is the 'co-ed' part which would probably not be a court matter if the girl had been allowed--for religious reasons--to merely take the swimming lessons in an all female environment.

Along that line of reasoning, here's one of my favorite obituaries.

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice).

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, the Technological Revolution and the Smoking Crusades, C.S. survived sundry cultural and educational trends including disco, the men's movement, body piercing, whole language and new math.

C.S.'s health began declining in the late 1960s when he became infected with the If-It-Feels-Good, Do-It virus. In the following decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of overbearing federal and state rules and regulations and an oppressive tax code. C.S. was sapped of strength and the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, criminals received better treatment than victims and judges stuck their noses in everything from Boy Scouts to professional baseball and golf. His deterioration accelerated as schools implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of 6-year-old boys charged with sexual harassment for kissing classmates, a teen suspended for taking a swig of Scope mouthwash after lunch, girls suspended for possessing Midol and an honor student expelled for having a table knife in her school lunch were more than his heart could endure.

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.


Richard's $.02

[Penn]

bvoss, This five weeks ago is a clear example of the muslim intent to alter our way of life. It is intentional and directed at our very basic freedoms. I for one find the muslim belief system to be inherently flawed.


Islamic states seek world freedom curbs: humanists
NPR News March 14, 2008
By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) - Islamic states are bidding to use the United Nations to limit freedom of expression and belief around the world, the global humanist body IHEU told the U.N.'s Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
In a statement submitted to the 48-nation Council, the IHEU said the 57 members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were also aiming to undermine the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"The Islamic states see human rights exclusively in Islamic terms, and by sheer weight of numbers this view is becoming dominant within the U.N. system. The implications for the universality of human rights are ominous," it said.
The statement from the IHEU, the International Humanist and Ethical Union, was issued as the U.N.'s special investigator on freedom of opinion and expression argued in a report that religions had no special protection under human rights law.
Ambeyi Ligabo, a Kenyan jurist, said in a report to the Council limitations on freedom of expression in international rights pacts "are not designed to protect belief systems from external or internal criticism."
MOUNTING SUCCESS
But this argument is rejected by Islamic states, who say outright criticism -- and especially lampooning -- of religion violates the rights of believers to enjoy respect.
The IHEU statement and Ligabo's report came against the background of mounting success by the OIC, currently holding a summit in Dakar, in achieving passage of U.N. resolutions against "defamation of religions."
Although several such resolutions have been adopted by the two-year-old Council and its predecessor since 1999, in December the U.N.'s General Assembly easily passed a similar one for the first time over mainly Western and Latin American opposition.
The OIC -- backed by allies in Africa and by Russia and Cuba -- has been pushing for stronger resolutions on "defamation" since a global controversy arose two years ago over cartoons in a Danish newspaper which Muslims say insult their religion.
The "defamation" issue has become especially sensitive this year as the U.N. prepares to celebrate in the autumn the 50th anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration, long seen as the bedrock of international human rights law and practice.
The OIC has been actively promoting its own 1990 Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, which it argues is complementary to the Universal Declaration but which critics like the IHEU say negate it in many areas.
Humanists, who include believers of many faiths supporting separation of religion and state as well as atheists and agnostics, say the "defamation" drive is part of an effort to extend the Cairo declaration to the international sphere.
The IHEU statement argued the December General Assembly resolution means states "may now legislate against any show of disrespect for religion, however they may choose to define 'disrespect'."

[Guy]

Originally Posted by SF_BHT

Hell if they do not want to learn to swim ship them back to the desert.....

Let her take lessons wearing a burkha...

Stay safe.