August 13, 2010, - 1:31 pm
Happy Ramadan From Hezbollah High’s Football Team: Your Tax $s @ Work
Where’s the ACLU? Crickets chirping whenever the separation of mosque and state is involved, as with Dearbornistan’s Fordson High School a/k/a Hezbollah High, which scheduled football practice at Midnight in observance of Ramadan, a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Remember, this is a tax-funded public high school in the United States of America.
ACLU-Hassle-Free @ Hezbollah High While Football Team Does Muslim Prayer
Several years ago, I told you about Fordson (see also, here), where the majority of the students are Muslim, and where Islamic proselytizing and discrimination against non-Muslim students and faculty is openly embraced. I told you about the school’s then-principal Imad Fadlallah, who is a close relative of recently departed Hezbollah spiritual leader Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. And I told you about Fordson’s football team, which openly violates the Constitution’s establishment clause by engaging in Muslim prayer before each game. (That’s in addition to cheating scandals in which Fadlallah’s nephew took the ACTs impersonating several Muslim football players, so they could qualify for college football scholarships.)
But, now, there’s the football practice at Midnight. While the Constitution allows public institutions to provide a modicum of reasonable accommodations for religious observances, it is clearly unconstitutional to endorse a particular religion, such as organized Muslim prayer by the team at football games and football practice at Midnight.
But, in America, it’s only when an institution embraces Jewish or Christian practices and prayers that the ACLU and every church-and-statenik raises holy (or, in their case, unholy) hell.
Playing football during Ramadan is nothing new. . . . This year . . . Ramadan is taking place during double sessions — when the bodies of high school football players are taxed the most. . . .
Practicing four or five hours, with a break in between during the hot days of August without food or water is potentially dangerous. To prepare for Ramadan, Fordson coach Walker Zaban scheduled practices at night. Monday’s practice began at 12:01 a.m., the earliest allowed by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The rest of this week’s practices began at 11 p.m.
Starting practice so late allows the players and coaches to eat and drink, and complete their meals an hour or so before practice.
It also allows the players to practice during the coolest part of the day.
Zaban estimates 95 percent of his players are Muslim.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s 95% or 100%. This is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause. And it violates the rights of the 5% non-Muslim minority on the team, which is probably afraid to voice its opposition due to frequent bullying of non-Muslims at Fordson.
“We make no excuses for it,” Zaban said about his football team. “Look, football gets the spotlight because it’s football. (But) our cross country teams have to go through this, the girls on the volleyball team have to do it — so do the other schools in our district.”
Though Fordson has a greater percentage of Muslims, many also attend Dearborn High and Dearborn Edsel Ford, the two other public high schools in Dearborn. Dearborn coach Dave Mifsud also changed his practice schedule. Dearborn’s practices start at 5 p.m. and last until 10:30 p.m.
Again, another case of establishment of religion. If you are a Dearbornistan resident who objects to this, please contact me, and maybe we can do something about it.
Stay tuned.
Tags: ACLU, church and state, Constitution, Dave Mifsud, Dearborn, Dearborn Edsel Ford, Dearborn High, Dearbornistan, Edsel Ford High, Edsel High, establishment clause, football, Fordson, Fordson High School, Hezbollah, Hezbollah High, Imad Fadlallah, Islam, midnight, Muslim, practice, Ramadan, unConstitutional, Walker Zaban
One solution: Move.
Broomer on August 13, 2010 at 1:58 pm