# Should American Students Get Islamic Holidays Off from School? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215 "2015-03-04T18:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/161 "2015-03-21T02:35:56Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > It seems like there are two questions here? First, should Muslim students and teachers be allowed to take Muslim holidays off and be accommodated for them? The answer seems like it’s obviously yes. I don’t know that that’s particularly debatable. > > The question about whether it should be a school holiday for everyone, though, seems like it would depend on the local demographics and the amount of disruption having the Muslim teachers and students gone would cause. If that makes any sense. This. Schools should make reasonable accommodations for teachers and students who want to take off holidays that are important to them. When that gets to be enough people out of school on any particular day, it makes sense for the school to just close, and schedule some other day for classes instead. I don’t know what NYC demographics are these days, but it seems completely plausible that there are enough Muslims in the public schools that it makes sense to close the schools for major Muslim holidays. > [@LavenderBlue](#): > > …Public schools should not observe religious holidays of any kind. I will keep my girls out on Yom Kippur and Rosh Ha’shanah. You can keep your kids on your religious holidays. No tests will be scheduled on any major religious holiday. We’ll all be better off. My local school used to run on this principle. I stayed home on Rosh Ha’shanah and Yom Kippur, and my teachers helped me catch up. (On teacher intentionally scheduled tests for those days, on the theory that it was easier to make up a test than a class. All the Jewish kids took the make-up test together the next afternoon. Worked fine.) But a lot of the teachers were Jewish, and the school system was paying a lot in substitute salaries for the Jewish holidays, and instruction suffered. They decided it wasn’t practical, and closed the schools those days, instead. The be “fair”, they also closed for Good Friday. Very few kids and fewer teachers had missed school that day, but probably a lot were happy to have that day off. I think practicality should be the rule, and if there are enough kids and/or staff taking off Eid that it affects instruction, then that should be a school holiday. I don’t see this as a religious fairness or religious freedom issue – that’s covered by letting the affected kids take off. I just se it as a “keep the schools running smoothly” issue. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/162 "2015-03-21T03:05:53Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Grotonian- > > There were several places in this thread where your behavior - saying another poster is lying (making things up) for example - could have earned you a direct warning. > > That I chose to softball the warning is my discretion and - I hope - an attempt to gently redirect both yourself and the thread into a productive direction. I hope you will continue to do so. > > Now, enough with the hijack. On with the thread. If you feel you absolutely must complain to the management about moderation I encourage you to do so in About This Message Board. > > Sorry for the formality, but I just got back from watching Kingsman and believe both that I need a new suit and that Colin Firth is my new role model. So I wrote lying and monkey without ever writing “lying” or “monkey”? Gotcha. But me actually being called “Todd Starnes of Fox News” doesn’t count as me being called “Todd Starnes of Fox News.” Gotcha. I was very specific about what **tomndebb** was making up: that the reporter misinterpreted the mayor’s statement. He did make it up; he had no evidence for it. Anyone who read my post could tell exactly what I was charging; there was no insult there at all. I was accused by a mod repeatedly of having a pathology, called Todd Starnes, and personally attacked by another mod 3 times. I said nothing rude to either of those guys, except in defense. And I got the only warning. For “monkey”. Which I never used. So how do I go to Kangaroo Court to appeal this? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/163 "2015-03-21T03:13:32Z")
You can probably “report” one of your posts, or the mod’s posts, to ask that. I doubt that posting it in the thread is the approved method of appealing. The little red triangle above and the the right of every post should work to report it – at least, that’s what works in the other forums I use. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/164 "2015-03-21T03:17:28Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > No, I saw it. Did you read my warning? It was for an “oblique” insult. I also received “oblique” insults in this thread. Scroll up. If that’s the standard, I want it applied to everyone. Don’t you? I’ve butted heads with JC on occasion, but he’s fair and frankly I think you’re overreacting and not generating sympathy. I won’t go further and would recommend the same of you because JC has said to take it to About This Message Board if you disagree with his decision. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/165 "2015-03-21T03:20:41Z")
> [@Grotonian](#): > > So I wrote lying and monkey without ever writing “lying” or “monkey”? Gotcha. But me actually being called “Todd Starnes of Fox News” doesn’t count as me being called “Todd Starnes of Fox News.” Gotcha. > > I was very specific about what **tomndebb** was making up: that the reporter misinterpreted the mayor’s statement. He did make it up; he had no evidence for it. Anyone who read my post could tell exactly what I was charging; there was no insult there at all. > > I was accused by a mod repeatedly of having a pathology, called Todd Starnes, and personally attacked by another mod 3 times. I said nothing rude to either of those guys, except in defense. And I got the only warning. For “monkey”. Which I never used. > > So how do I go to Kangaroo Court to appeal this? Here at ATMB. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=2](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=2) I’d recommend changing your tone and making more compelling arguments though if you want positive responses. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/166 "2015-03-21T03:20:52Z")
> [@Sinaptics](#): > > This has been the trend in my area for some time; everything moving to secular holidays. I think the only religious holidays left are Christmas (winter break). That and with Black Friday creeping into Thursday and Christmas being about Santa Claus and materialism its’ arguable whether they’re really Christian holidays anymore. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/167 "2015-04-01T23:14:45Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’m having a hard time understanding your point here, since there are far more comments, videos, jokes, insults, etc against Muslims in the US than any other religion. Christianity is the largest religion by far so it will attract a certain amount of commentary, but the level of vitriol and sheer hatred directed against Christians is tiny in comparison. > > Can you point to some places where Christianity is maligned that isn’t duplicated 10 fold by folks attacking Islam? I believe that I called for an example, or else, such was implicit. Give me \*one \*about Islam. Don’t tell me how many you \*feel \*there are, or tell me of the rage in your bones against Christian fundamentalists for their intolerance. Just show me one example of anybody doing the 'far more comments, videos, jokes, insults, etc against Muslims" on [Youtube.com](http://Youtube.com) or any other mainstream (being defined as ‘easily accessible’) channel of communication, that one could fairly call representative. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/168 "2015-04-01T23:21:47Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/169 "2015-04-02T02:51:16Z")
> **[Pamela Geller Anti-Islam Bus Ads Coming to Philadelphia](https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/216626/pamela-geller-anti-islam-bus-ads-coming-to-philade/)** > > (Reuters) — An ad campaign featuring an image of Adolf Hitler and linking Islam to Nazism could soon appear on Philadelphia-area buses after a court ruling this week that forces the regional transit authority to accept the campaign. The ad’s sponsor,... > **[Muslim school vandalized with anti-Islamic graffiti in Rhode Island](https://www.rt.com/usa/232839-rhode-island-islam-school/)** > > Federal authorities in the United States being asked to investigate an incident in Rhode Island over the weekend in which a Muslim school was vandalized with anti-Islamic graffiti. [http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/irving-not-supportive-of-islamic-group-mayor-tells-glenn-beck-but-city-hall-says-something-else.html/](http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/irving-not-supportive-of-islamic-group-mayor-tells-glenn-beck-but-city-hall-says-something-else.html/) [http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/06/13/2150841/hecklers-cheer-burning-of-tennessee-mosque/](http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/06/13/2150841/hecklers-cheer-burning-of-tennessee-mosque/) [http://www.memecenter.com/search/anti%20islam](http://www.memecenter.com/search/anti%20islam) [anti-muslim jokes](https://jtf.org/forum/index.php?topic=139.0) There are lots more. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/170 "2015-04-02T03:00:35Z")
YouTube search on [“Islam is evil”](https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube&oq=youtube&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=islam%20is%20evil%20site%3Ayoutube.com). Now I suppose you can explain to me how that’s not really what you meant? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/171 "2015-04-04T04:46:52Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > [Pamela Geller Anti-Islam Bus Ads Coming to Philadelphia – The Forward](http://forward.com/articles/216626/pamela-geller-anti-islam-bus-ads-coming-to-philade/) > [http://rt.com/usa/232839-rhode-island-islam-school/](http://rt.com/usa/232839-rhode-island-islam-school/) > [http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/irving-not-supportive-of-islamic-group-mayor-tells-glenn-beck-but-city-hall-says-something-else.html/](http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2015/02/irving-not-supportive-of-islamic-group-mayor-tells-glenn-beck-but-city-hall-says-something-else.html/) > [http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/06/13/2150841/hecklers-cheer-burning-of-tennessee-mosque/](http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/06/13/2150841/hecklers-cheer-burning-of-tennessee-mosque/) > [http://www.memecenter.com/search/anti%20islam](http://www.memecenter.com/search/anti%20islam) > > [anti-muslim jokes](https://jtf.org/forum/index.php?topic=139.0) > > There are lots more. For you to equate a Jewish org. complaining about anti-Semitism from Islamic sectors is so irrelevant, and far from reasonable, that I couldn’t even stomach to inspect your other links. Fail. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/172 "2015-04-04T04:48:58Z")
> [@andros](#): > > YouTube search on [“Islam is evil”](https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube&oq=youtube&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=islam%20is%20evil%20site%3Ayoutube.com). > > Now I suppose you can explain to me how that’s not really what you meant? I didn’t bother to check your link to google, since I could google everything that I want to myself. I asked for at least one link to prove a point (word ‘relevant’ being operative; word ‘using a word that andros finds similar’ is inoperative); not, as you seem to believe, a link to google. I can’t sift through your shit to try to prove a point that doesn’t exist. Haven’t you read any of these posts? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/173 "2015-04-04T14:24:56Z")
Right. Because if you could be bothered to click a single link this foolish, inane, and entirely wrongheaded line of argument would be invalidated, and you might actually have to bring some nuance or consideration to your points. You have in no sense successfully challenged **Telemark** ’s point. **tom~** and I have provided evidence of of large volumes of “vitriol and sheer hatred” directed at Islam and Muslims. While, I freely admit, that’s only half the argument (the other half requiring a demonstration of _less_ antagonism directed at Christians), you have declined to even acknowledge that much. I think it’s clear you have no interest in an honest discussion here. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/174 "2015-04-04T18:36:25Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > For you to equate a Jewish org. complaining about anti-Semitism from Islamic sectors is so irrelevant, and far from reasonable, that I couldn’t even stomach to inspect your other links. > Fail. Ever read something and think you may have had a stroke because words are inexplicably missing and you don’t have any idea what it says? Me too. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/175 "2015-04-04T18:46:09Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > For you to equate a Jewish org. complaining about anti-Semitism from Islamic sectors is so irrelevant, and far from reasonable, that I couldn’t even stomach to inspect your other links. > Fail. What are you talking about? What link is that? Are you talking about the one mentioning the bigoted Jewish blogger Pamela Gellar trying to take out bigoted ads on school buses against Muslims? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/176 "2015-04-04T23:29:03Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > For you to equate a Jewish org. complaining about anti-Semitism from Islamic sectors is so irrelevant, and far from reasonable, that I couldn’t even stomach to inspect your other links. You couldn’t “stomach” looking at other citations? Nah. You just realized that your keyboard wrote a check your beliefs can’t cash and cannot demonstrate the integrity to admit your error. > [@handsomeharry](#): > > Fail. I agree with your assessment of your claim. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/177 "2015-04-07T08:05:19Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You couldn’t “stomach” looking at other citations? > > Nah. You just realized that your keyboard wrote a check your beliefs can’t cash and cannot demonstrate the integrity to admit your error. **tomndebb** , a good analogy to your response (first): If I were to ask for payment of some service rendered to/for you in gold, you would quote a poem about a golden sunset, and demand change in gold krugerrands. > [@tomndebb](#): > > I agree with your assessment of your claim. Which only shows that you cannot make proper distinctions between what you hear and what you want to hear, and/or will wrest simple statements to force your interpretation onto them. Unless, you were being…immature? Disingenuous? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/178 "2015-04-07T10:25:31Z")
Your earlier statement to which I was replying was: > [@handsomeharry](#): > > I don’t recall any jokes about Allah/Muhammed/Islam, ever, on Youtube. And, how many Muslims have been mistreated that you can name? I can’t think of any, and I’ve had a lot of Muslim friends/gfs/associates. I provided multiple examples of jokes about Allah/Muhammad/Islam and occasions when Muslims were mistreated in the U.S. You decided that you did not like the first example I provided and refused to even look at any others. Your dancing, here, is not impressive and calling me names because I pointed out your error is not going to persuade anyone that you understand your own words or that you are willing to engage in honest discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/179 "2015-04-07T10:50:59Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Give me \*one \*about Islam. Don’t tell me how many you \*feel \*there are, or tell me of the rage in your bones against Christian fundamentalists for their intolerance. Just show me one example of anybody doing the 'far more comments, videos, jokes, insults, etc against Muslims" on [Youtube.com](http://Youtube.com) or any other mainstream (being defined as ‘easily accessible’) channel of communication, that one could fairly call representative. In the time it took you to type this, you easily could have typed “Islam is Evil” into your favorite search engine and found, for example, [this Youtube video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg3WVE8lI9c). C’mon, man. This is a bogus cite request. Do your own legwork. FYI, there are many, many, many more such videos on Youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215/180 "2015-04-07T11:30:36Z")
Everyone just calm down. Any more heated comments and warnings will result. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-american-students-get-islamic-holidays-off-from-school/714215.md?page=8)