Creeping Sharia In Chicago

Sharia claims yet another victim- a Muslim mother has managed to get Ramadan added to the calendar of holidays at the Oak Lawn school disctrict in Chicago.

However, the local media outlet, CBS Channel 2, downplayed the significance, by claiming that not much has changed- "School Keeps Christmas, Hallowe'en; Adds Ramadan". Since when do American schools celebrate non-Christian holidays? I had many Jewish friends, who never celebrated Hanukkah or Passover at school. We did not get holidays for their religious holidays, though some school disctircts did give the Jewish children days off during their most holy celebrations. Why are we allowing Muslims to suddenly add Ramadan to the school calendar?

It seems that most of the school district's residents took a common-sense approach. As CBS 2 reported,

Elizabeth Zahdan was at the center of the storm, a Muslim mother of three who requested that her children be separated from others at lunch during the Ramadan fast.

The schools agreed, but at the Tuesday board meeting, many parents didn't.

"I don’t ever remember one of us asking for our child to be separated from classmates during Ash Wednesday when they were fasting, or on every Friday of Lent when our children are not allowed to eat meat," said parent Cathy Hughes.

"If Muslims want the school holidays, menus and school traditions to become tailored to their needs or beliefs, then they should go to private school next to their mosque," said resident Brian Shapiro.

"That does not represent all the Muslims, all of the Arabs at that school," said Qais Nofel, the father of a student in Ridgeland School District 122.

There may be hope for America if residents are willing to stand up to the spineless bureaucrats who want so badly to be politically correct. (For a discussion of the pernicious nature of political correctness, please see Professor William Anderson's remarks on the subject). However, the deeper concern is when Americans will recognize that Muslims are not by nature satisfied with being equal- they want to be dominant and everyone else to be in a subordinate position. Their religion demands it, and many Muslims, especially Black Muslims, see an opportunity to use the new accepted 'victimhood' of Islam to gain a position of even more entitlement.

The United States by definition is designed to downplay religious conflict, as the State cannot advance one religion over another, according ot the Constitution. But although the ACLU will never recognize it, their efforts to advance Islam (publis-financing of foot-baths at public colleges, publicly-financed mosques, etc) and the constant attacks on Christianity are doing precisely that. The United States, like it or not, is built on Christian foundations, not Muslim, not Jewish, not Buddhist. We are remarkably tolerant, as most other religions who live here among us can testify. But Islam is not like other religions. And unfortunately, many Muslims are determined to use our insititutions against us to institute creeping sharia of the type that this Elizabeth Zahdan is attempting. It may be adding Ramadan to a school holiday calendar today. But what comes tomorrow? The only thing we can be sure of is that there will be other demands, until we find ourselves living under Islamic shaira. For that is many Muslims' ultimate goal. And only constant vigilance will prevent them from succeeding- our elected leaders certainly have not the courage to stand up for our culture and our civilization.