The argument that you guys are having seems moot to me. If I'm a customer and I go into the grocery store, wait in line for ten minutes, only to be referred to another line because I'm buying pork chops, that will be my last trip to that particular store. Grocery shopping is a hassle, and I will go somewhere that the hassle is minimal - this isn't out of "religious intolerance" but out of pure expediency. Whether catering to religious whimsy is the "right" thing to do or not, it is bad for business.

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Which was kind of my point in post #49 above.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Not exactly. It's more "you honor me or I'll quit and so will everyone else" logic.

The areas where these Muslim cashiers work are dominated by Muslim cashiers, i. e. they form an organized ethnic labor group.

Yes, organized labor is certainly dangerous to certain people.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

Not clear here - are you supporting the idea of an organized group of workers forcing their religion on others?

Matt

__________________
De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

For those who are on the "Muslim side" in this, do you think that Evangelical Christian clerks should have the right to refuse to ring up birth control, or that Catholic doctors should have the right to refuse to provide rape victims with abortions?

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

I think that Catholic doctors should have to walk around with a big red "C" embroidered on their lab coats.

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I guess what we'll need in the stores are religious symbols atop the lane lights, so the customers can know which lanes their purchases are welcome in.

Or, my preferred method - the cashier keeps their religion to themselves, and doesn't try to shove it up my ass when I try to buy groceries.

If I wanted to practice Islam and abide by it's strictures, I would. But my grocer has no right to force me to comply with their employee's religion as a condition of service.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

Restricting the availability of one kind of meat in one part of town is hardly forcing a religion on you.

And regardless of whether I support it, organized labor and all that comes with it is a reality of life.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

Yes, it is. They are forcing you to adopt their religious dietary requirements through extortion.

Matt

__________________
De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

They aren't. You're welcome to travel to a store with no Muslim cashiers and indulge in as much pork as you like.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

So can the store fire them if they refuse to serve customers based on their religious whims?

Matt

__________________
De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

How far are we supposed to let this stuff go on?

Could, for example, a Muslim paramedic refuse to help a patient choking on a piece of pork chop if doing so might require touching the pork?

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum

They sure can.

Not sure how Target will handle the thousands of Muslim cashiers quitting in protest, though. Add to that to the bad rep with the surrounding Muslim community, which could result in widespread boycotts. And then there's the bad press about Target being culturally insensitive, and. . . .

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

No Muslim medic has ever complained about doing that. And that would be unreasonable.

There is nothing wrong with having to make reasonable accomodations for other people's faiths. Having another cashier swipe the pork product through or swiping it yourself or shopping in another store is by no means an unreasonable sacrifice.

Those who complain loudly about small inconveniences like this are impolite and/or anti-social. Parts of the US are multicultural. Not every town in America is 99.4% Christian-White. In such areas, people must learn to adapt to the multiculturalism and make simple sacrifices like the one described above. It doesn't matter if certain people don't like it or they feel they have a right to it. Life is unfair, period.

This problem is close to home for me since I live in Minneapolis, and have been to these stores, and ride in the cabs. FYI, most Muslim cabbies here won't pick you up if you have alcohol with you. Oh my, quel horreur. When I'm at the airport at 3 am coming home from a trip, tired, full of bags, I'm happy to see any cabby out there smiling willing to give me a ride. I just want to hug them . I could care less if they had an issue with alcohol; if by any chance I had it with me, I'd toss it.

There are people here--mostly the rural types--that scream about this: "Damn ragheads won't lemme let ride in a cab cuz I got Budweiser. They shouldna be working here. Why don't they go back to their own countries?!!"

Ahem, nothing more to be said about them.

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Life only becomes meaningful at its extremes

-- S

There is nothing wrong with the cashier making a reasonable accommodation for my not being of his faith and just doing his job.

Sorry, I don't like having anyone's religion forced down my throat. My idea of reasonably accommodating one another's religion is simple - you don't try and force yours on me, and I don't try to force mine on you.

Oh, so it's OK to descriminate based on religion.

It I am a cabbie and see a Hassidic Jew in full regalia, can I refuse to pick him up?

What about a black man? If discrimination based on religion is OK, why not race too?

I don't drink. I'd never have alcohol on me.

I still think refusing to serve someone who doesn't conform to your religion is wrong.

ROFLMFAO. You preach all this tolerance, then go off and produce an offensive stereotype to dismiss.

You're every bit the bigot that the guy screaming about "ragheads" is.

Matt

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De duobus malis, minus est semper eligendum