We here in Minnesota are on the firing line on these matters of religion. The latest controversy arises over the refusal of some cashiers to ring up sales of pork products:
Beryl Dsouza was late and in no mood for delays when she stopped at a Target store after work two weeks ago for milk, bread and bacon. So Dsouza was taken aback when the cashier -- who had on the traditional headscarf, or hijab, worn by many Muslim women -- refused to swipe the bacon through the checkout scanner.
"She made me scan the bacon. Then she opened the bag and made me put it in the bag," said Dsouza, 53, of Minneapolis. "It made me wonder why this person took a job as a cashier."
In the latest example of religious beliefs creating tension in the workplace, some Muslims in the Twin Cities are adhering to a strict interpretation of the Qur'an that prohibits the handling of pork products. Instead of swiping the items themselves, they are asking non-Muslim employees or shoppers to do it for them.
Once again, there doesn't seem to be any consensus among the Muslims themselves on whether their religion bans scanning the bar code on a package of bacon and putting it in a bag. Somehow, I doubt that the Koran contains anything directly on point.
While most customers have been offended or worse by cashiers' refusal to ring up some of their purchases, others have urged accommodation of the Somalis' customs--or alleged customs, since the Somalis themselves are divided:
Dr. Shah Khan, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Minnesota in Fridley... urged people to remember the extraordinary adjustments many Somalis have made in coming to the Twin Cities. "Many of these people are refugees. They may have been tortured. And they came here having never held a book in English," he said. "They're already adapting to our society. We need to adapt to them, too."
Sorry, no. Refugees who come to America need to learn that if you want to be a cashier in a store that sells food, it isn't up to you to critique the customers' purchases. Likewise if you're a cab driver; you don't get to choose your fares based on your approval or disapproval of the contents of their packages. That isn't how it works here, and the sooner that immigrants learn that they can't erect a little zone of sharia law around themselves, the better off they will be.
PAUL ADDS: I agree, but don't be surprised if the Bush administration's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) gets involved on behalf of "sharia law."
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 4)
16. Would she ring up a bible? Do we get points if we can fool her with a can of Spam, or Navy Bean soup?
Last time I checked, pork products do not cause a fertilized human egg from implanting in a uterus, while the "morning after" pill does that. Of course if you eat 3lbs of bacon a day, you would be just as dead as that zygot. l
Doc at 9:32PM on Mar 14th 2007
17. So start a taxi business featuring cabbies who will carry alcohol for a few dollars more. You should be able to generate a market share or force the Somali's out of business.
If everyone who takes a cab is as patriotic as the Powerwhiners, then they should make a fortune.
Webster Hubble Telescope at 11:39PM on Mar 23rd 2007
18. The Powerwhiners should understand elementary market economics. Some enterprising cabbie will offer alcohol-allowed rides for a few dollars more. Then he will push some Somali's out of business and then corner the market share.
Webster Hubble Telescope at 10:13PM on Mar 15th 2007
19. The most rediculous thing is that there is no mohammedan "rule" prohibiting picking up a package of bacon. It is not prohibited. Eating? Sure. By their same created rule they should not be in the store as the building has pork in it. Maybe they will take the logic a step further and figure that since the US is lousy with pork products and people who eat it, then they can just blow town. Goodbye. Good riddance. Islam is incompatible with western culture. Always has been, always will be.
al-Dajjal at 3:24AM on Mar 15th 2007
20. The woman with the bacon should have immediately called for a manager. Then said, "My religion forbids me from bagging my own groceries when someone says their religion forbids them from bagging groceries they don't like. And it further says you must give me a 15% discount." Assimilate that!! Or...get 15 or 20 people in line, a high school hockey team ought to do nicely, all buying turkey ham, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, and turkey spam. There's your 'adapt to them'.
Vasily at 6:16AM on Mar 15th 2007
21. Target sells all kinds of stuff. A cashier/pharmacist who takes the job at Target needs to follow the rules set by the employer.
Those who refuse to sell what Target is offering should be removed from the payroll.
Or we can set up special lines for this group and that group and maybe have seperate but equal shopping for each ethnic group.
Jay at 7:18AM on Mar 15th 2007
22. What PowerLiner John and his disciples are conveniently dismissing is the solid, valid comparison between this and pharmacists who refuse to dispense legal pharmaceuticals (notice the similarity in the words - pharmacist/pharmaceutical!!). Is John opposed to the dissenting pharmacists? My guess/bet is no, he's not. That's inconsistent. And the inconsistency is based simply on John not liking Muslims (perhaps even hating them). They are the "other" and the other are not like him and his disciples.
There is an interesting moral issue here, but John doesn't even scratch it. What happens, what SHOULD happen, when people's deeply held moral beliefs (be they based on a religion or anything else) come into conflict with private enterprise? Saying they should "work elsewhere" isn't much of an answer though. What if their moral strictures are so broad and deep that MOST employment would violate that person's principles? In practical terms, they might find it difficult to work anywhere that doesn't conflict with their deeply held beliefs in some way. But if they don't work anywhere, they risk the consequences of poverty and being stigmatized as "lazy" - even if their reasons for not working at all of those places are based on morality. (Yes, I hear it now: "They should start their own business!") This scenario could manifest itself as easily for a Christian in the U.S. as it could anyone else.
A King's claim that "...the Q'ran is a false document, and the Bible tells truth," leaves a lot to be desired. King - how do you know this? Because the Bible tells you so? Well, gee, what if Muslims who read the Quran feel the same about their text? Well, gosh, somebody must be wrong in this situation! And I know, I know, it can't be you, King, because it would make you feel bad.
Dave at 5:39PM on Mar 15th 2007
23. When we apply for, and eventually accept, a job in the USA that job offer more times than not includes a "job description". If a person cannot (or in these cases will not) perform the duties outlined in the job description they do not get the job, or they face possible termination. It isn't polictical,moral, cultural or religious; its just logistics. Employers need employees who work. And there are MANY people out there looking for a job who would be more than happy to scan the bacon.
K Stag at 9:21AM on Mar 15th 2007
24. This is reverse reverse religious discrimination. I would simply do it first.
I'd ask for a cashier of the religion I prefer, I would ask the pharacist what is religion is, or a cab driver, and I would be the discriminator. If they can worship as they please here and discriminate using religion as the excuse, then I retain the same right, if enough people stop doing business with people whose religions are being used this way, they won't have a job soon and then they will think twice about the fact that privacy should prevail. Religion is personal and private, A JOB SERVING THE PUBLIC demands that you keep your personal feelings and beliefs to yourself.
Try it. Next time you choose a restaurant, ask the religion of everyone you come in contact with and refuse to be served by particular ones for religious reasons and watch what happens. Try it on the phone with a bill collector. "Before I answer your questions, you will have to tell me your religion. Oh my word, you're Christian, do you have someone there who is Bhuddist, I won't deal with Christians. Their religion discriminates against me."
FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE.
JMPACE at 10:23AM on Mar 15th 2007
25. It is completely unacceptable that anyone would condone a physician or a pharmacist refusing to provide treatment to a patient based on ANY reason!! Physicians take an oath saying they will not discriminate (not in those words). I am a healthcare provider and while I have strongly disagreed with some patient's religious views, and have been discriminated against by others, I am still ethically obligated to provide the best possible patient care at all times. What is next? A police officer refusing to stop a rape because the victim is not of a religion he "approves of"?
Tangnefedd42 at 9:58AM on Mar 15th 2007
26. My only complaint is that if I moved to say Saudi Arabia I would be required to wear a burqa, could not drive, etc. . .and conform to the culture around me, which I disagree with on a moral ground, but I would comply.
But, they come here and don't want to conform to a certain level of our standards??? Hmmm. . . .
Linda at 9:58AM on Mar 15th 2007
27. Well, this indeed does strike controversey. There are also a few things that we must keep in mind when considering religions of the world. However, the main aspect that we must know is that people have different beliefs about everything; including religion. We must do our best to respect their ways of life and different beliefs for we are all the same in that we are all people.
Matt at 10:28AM on Mar 15th 2007
28. Let's not go down the path of ethnic or religious bigotry here. As long as no one restricts their right to worship (or not worship) as they see fit, everyone should have to play by the same rules in the workplace - regardless of whether the basis of the person's moral scruples is the Quran, the Bible, any other set of religious laws or even just the person's own analysis of what constitutes right or wrong.
I speak from personal experience here, having lost a job during my college years due to the fact that I was a strict vegetarian at the time - though for reasons of personal ethics, not received religion. (Fundamentalists of any stripe don't like to hear this, but yes, there ARE other possible bases for a coherent system of ethics besides their idea of what constitutes Holy Writ, and NO, that doesn't mean that the unbeliever is fancying him- or herself the most important force in the Universe.) I was hired to run a telephone switchboard at a resort; but when the boss later told me I had to flip burgers at the snack bar at lunchtime, I balked. I was annoyed that he hadn't told me up front that there were other things I'd have to do besides answer phones, but I didn't question his right to fire me. It was my choice to stick to my beliefs, so I went on to find other work.
In America, where separation of Church and State is essential to both the theory and the practice of democracy, the evangelical Christian who believes that a zygote is a "person" should have to sell the morning-after pill just as much as the strict Muslim should have to scan the bacon. If it seems like too much of a "moral" compromise, each is free to seek another job that does not require them to do whatever it is that they object to.
That being said, I don't mean to minimize the hardships faced by recent immigrants in finding work - especially members of groups that are automatically viewed with suspicion by the average American yahoo just because they have brown skin, speak Arabic or read the Quran. Seems to me that we ALL have to be willing to compromise to some degree and have real dialogue. We must never forget that we are a nation of immigrants, and that our diversity is our greatest strength and what makes us unique in the world.
Fran at 10:33AM on Mar 15th 2007
29. I am tired of other peoples rights being more important than mine.If I want a morning after pill and it is available, or if I want to buy liquor or bacon, that is MY RIGHTS!!!! IF IT IS NOT YOUR STORE OR YOUR CAB, JUST DO YOUR JOB LIKE THE REST OF US, AND COMPLAIN WHEN YOU GET HOME! ..In my job, I accomodate my guests, or I am terminated, period..IT IS CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE. THE MAN WHO PAYS THE PAYCHECK MAKES THE RULES!!!! If you are not qualified to do a job, or do not wish to do it as it is set up, feel free to open that job position for someone who is willing to do it and get yourself the education or skill to get the job you are more suited for!
thumper at 10:41AM on Mar 15th 2007
30. adaption is key word NOT accommodation. this is all cyclical and soon after the build up of all the PC correctness and sensitivity to everyones every thought and feeling and belief people will throw off the PC mantle and refuse to be sensitive to anything about anyone else...it will be more popular to totally disregard others. you can not keep pushing the limits of a society and maintain the benefits of what the society was built on and for ...one will have to give.
rebekah at 10:44AM on Mar 15th 2007