# Muslim taxi drivers in USA refuse to take passengers carrying wine bottle **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 30, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732 "2006-09-30T13:54:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/1 "2006-09-30T13:54:23Z")
this news [article](http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Sep29/0,4670,MuslimCabbiesAlcohol,00.html) reports that in the airport at Minneapolis, some Muslim taxi drivers are refusing to accept any passenger who is carrying alcohol. Three quarters of the 900 drivers are from Somalia, most of whom are Muslim. What started with only a few drivers is now a spreading phenomenon: drivers who refuse to take anyone who is,say, carrying openly a gift-wrapped bottle of wine. It is now a “significant issue of customer service for us”, according to the airport’s PR spokesman. The airport’s proposed ‘solution’ is to surrender: the airport’s governing commission will provide a colored light on the roof of such taxis, so passengers will know which vehicles to avoid when carrying alcohol. This seems to me to be political correctness gone crazy. Absolutely, totally, unacceptably, crazy. Minneapolis is not Saudi Arabia. Carrying a bottle of wine is legal, just like carrying an umbrella, or a bible. The airport is a public institution, run by commisioners who are appointed by the governor of Minnesota. [cite](http://www.mspairport.com/mac/). American citizens using the airport have a right to be treated equally, as long as they do not break the law. (i.e. state law made by their congressmen, not Sharia law made by Muslim theologians. ) If fundamentalist Christian drivers made the same demands, the ACLU would be screaming about separation of church and state. What’s next? Taxi drivers who refuse to drive any passenger carrying a ham sandwich? Or refuse to drive women passengers unless they are wearing a burka? 1. Question for liberals: does “cultural diversity” have any limits? 2. Question for lawyers: how can this _not_ be a violation of the 1st ammendment–i.e. government support for disrcriminatory religious behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Jakonovski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jakonovski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakonovski)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/2 "2006-09-30T14:00:06Z")
It’s like a Muslim rerun of the pharmacists who refuse to sell contraceptives. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/3 "2006-09-30T14:09:11Z")
[QUOTE=Jakonovski] It’s like a Muslim rerun of the pharmacists who refuse to sell contraceptives. [/QUOTE] But I thought those pharmacists (one case that I heard of) _lost_ their case in court. And the case was a private individual suing his private-sector employer (if I remember correctly.) In the Minn airport, we have an official government agency violating the 1st ammendment. ---
**Author:** ![Jakonovski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jakonovski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakonovski)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/4 "2006-09-30T14:18:20Z")
I’m not going to wrangle legal specifics, but violating the spirit of the Constitution is a running theme in the US of late. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/5 "2006-09-30T14:18:41Z")
How would they know if your carrying alcohol? Lie like a dog and get in the damn taxi. What if I had a beer at the airport? I’m ‘carrying’ alcohol then too. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/6 "2006-09-30T14:22:51Z")
The solution there is to cancel the franchise of anyone caught refusing to take passengers with alcohol. If they wish to follow the teachings of a pedophile/assasin/murderer/coward, they’re more than welcome to it. But if it interferes with their secular duties then they must be taken to task. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/7 "2006-09-30T14:23:57Z")
How does this violative anyone’s rights? I guess if they prevent a Priest from carrying Communion wine it could be religious discrimination. But can’t any private business concern ban others from taking many different types of things, including alcohol, into their private business locations. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/8 "2006-09-30T14:24:56Z")
Colored lights? Good. That way people will know which taxis to avoid… and not just when they’re carrying booze. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/9 "2006-09-30T14:41:54Z")
[QUOTE=Unregistered Bull] How does this violative anyone’s rights? I guess if they prevent a Priest from carrying Communion wine it could be religious discrimination. But can’t any private business concern ban others from taking many different types of things, including alcohol, into their private business locations. [/QUOTE] IANAL, but I don’t think that is the case with public transportation. In the Philippines (I’m not sure if it’s the same there in the US), taxi drivers cannot refuse passengers without legal justification lest they get their franchises revoked. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/10 "2006-09-30T14:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] That way people will know which taxis to avoid… . [/QUOTE] because of the ethnic, racial, and religous background of the taxi driver. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/11 "2006-09-30T14:45:11Z")
[QUOTE=Anduril] If they wish to follow the teachings of a pedophile/assasin/murderer/coward, they’re more than welcome to it. [/QUOTE] Absolutely uncalled for. Make your case without insults, please. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/12 "2006-09-30T14:47:33Z")
[QUOTE=Anduril] IANAL, but I don’t think that is the case with public transportation. In the Philippines (I’m not sure if it’s the same there in the US), taxi drivers cannot refuse passengers without legal justification lest they get their franchises revoked. [/QUOTE] It’s private transportation. And I wouldn’t be suprised that there are even public transportation venues in the US that ban alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Jakonovski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jakonovski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakonovski)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/13 "2006-09-30T14:49:45Z")
Is rampant anti-Muslim bigotry some kind of a hallmark of GD threads, or did I start posting at a bad time? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/14 "2006-09-30T14:55:38Z")
> [@](#): > > In the Minn airport, we have an official government agency violating the 1st ammendment. No we don’t, and I fail to see how you draw that conclusion. No government agency is preventing persons carrying alcohol from taking a taxi, as far as I can tell from the article. Unless you can show otherwise, I imagine that, like in most cities, drivers are independent contractors, and therefore can choose to carry fares or not, as long as they cannot be shown to be dsciminating on the basis of religion or race. The article does mention that cabbies without these lights who refuse fares go to the back of the cab rank, resulting in their waiting in line for an additional three hours or so. That’s a significant hit on a cabbie’s daily income. > [@](#): > > Minneapolis is not Saudi Arabia. Agreed. It’s much colder in winter, for one thing. Nor is it Somalia, where, according to the article, most of the cabbies are from. Why are so many from there, by the way? That might make a fairly interesting news story in itself. > [@](#): > > If fundamentalist Christian drivers made the same demands, the ACLU would be screaming about separation of church and state. Taxi drivers in Minneapolis are not state employees, so far as I know. I have no idea how the ACLU might address this particular issue, and I don’t think you do either. Here’s an idea: if you want to know what the ACLU might do, contact them and bring this issue to their attention. > [@](#): > > What’s next? Taxi drivers who refuse to drive any passenger carrying a ham sandwich? Or refuse to drive women passengers unless they are wearing a burka? If the cabbies wanted to impose such silly rules and thereby wipe out much of their chance to earn a living, they could. Other persons, who are more amenable to passengers toting ham sandwiches, could get hack licences and agree to carry them as well. Now, to your questions: > [@](#): > > 1. Question for liberals: does “cultural diversity” have any limits? Yes, and I am under the impression that the US Constitution, quaint document that may be, sets those limits. > [@](#): > > 1. Question for lawyers: how can this not be a violation of the 1st ammendment–i.e. government support for disrcriminatory religious behavior? I’m not a lawyer, but it appears the cabbies are not discriminating based on other persons’ religious beliefs, but that they feel compelled to refuse alcohol-carrying fares because that is how they interpret the requirements of their own religion. This is no different in character from the religion-based requirements of male Sikhs that they wear a turban, or the various costume and hair requirements required of orthodox Jews. If the airport authorty, therefore, were to say, ban Muslim Somali taxi drivers from picking up fares at the airport, or even just compelling them to take passengers carrying alcohol, that would in fact be religious discrimination. That’s pretty much all the effort I care to spend on this particular issue, so I’ll just follow the rest of the debate silently, and I won’t be hurt if someone demonstrates I’m wrong on any of the above. ---
**Author:** ![Anduril](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c0e974/32.png) [@Anduril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduril)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/15 "2006-09-30T15:06:17Z")
They still operate under a franchise, and those franchises can be revoked. I would imagine that a regulatory agency exists that governs them. What’s wrong with compelling them to take passengers who carry an unopened bottle of liquor? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/16 "2006-09-30T15:07:26Z")
[QUOTE=Unregistered Bull] because of the ethnic, racial, and religous background of the taxi driver. [/QUOTE] Is that against the First Amendment? If he can discriminate against me, I can descriminate against him. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/17 "2006-09-30T15:09:15Z")
[QUOTE=Jakonovski] Is rampant anti-Muslim bigotry some kind of a hallmark of GD threads, or did I start posting at a bad time? [/QUOTE] Pretty much par for the course. Natch that doesn’t mean the SDMB’s ‘protected classes of persons’ can be subject to same. Hell no. Though, it does mostly depend which moderators are on deck. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/18 "2006-09-30T15:12:35Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Is that against the First Amendment? If he can discriminate against me, I can descriminate against him. [/QUOTE] Yes, you can discriminate against them because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. But they however cannot discriminate against you because of your race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/19 "2006-09-30T15:14:39Z")
No, they can just force me to follow the rules of their religion. ---
**Author:** ![Jakonovski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47c2d/32.png) [@Jakonovski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jakonovski)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732/20 "2006-09-30T15:17:35Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] No, they can just force me to follow the rules of their religion. [/QUOTE] Actually, at most they can refuse to give you a taxi ride. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-taxi-drivers-in-usa-refuse-to-take-passengers-carrying-wine-bottle/374732.md?page=2)