Muslim Cab Driver

[jfrenaye]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid...icle%2FShowFull

OK, these fellows emigrated to the US and have taken a job in public transportation. They are saying that they willnot transport people to bars or clubs, nor will they pick up passengers that are carrying booze.

What the hell is going on here? Minneapolis is NOT Slamababad. Where the hell do these guys get off on forcing their religious beliefs on the public like this? What is next? Oh, I am sorry in my country we do not believe in premarital sex, and I don't want to take you because you are not a virgin?

When does the US's quest for political correctness end? I hear that MSP is considering adding a light on the cabs to indicate if they take booze passengers or not. Come on! Sorry, I don't like blacks, jews, orientals, or hispanics, so I am not going to take you!

This really has me pissed off!

And it is not a rant on Islam, it is a rant on the US and when we neeed to say enough is enough. Do you think this crap would fly in Jerusalem, London, Paris, Tokyo?

[bodega]

I have the same feelings about doctors who refuse to write birth control precriptions or pharmacists who will not sell the morning after pill. They can not allow their religious beliefs to interfere with what is best for the patient.

[jjjenny]

I wholeheartedly agree with you John. Go back to where you came from and practice your beliefs there!

[tdew]

While I pretty much agree with everyone on the taxi issue, there's a big difference between a public taxi and a doctor.

You don't just walk in off the street to see a doctor. I'd assume you do some research and select a doctor based on what you want and need from him or her, then you see if you can get an appointment.

[stephen_s]

Here's what gets me:

Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society, an organization the Chicago Tribune has established is devoted to turning the United States into a country run by Islamic law. The wife of a former head of the organization, for example, has explained that its goal is "to educate everyone about Islam and to follow the teachings of Islam with the hope of establishing an Islamic state." (EMPHASIS MINE) [/b]

Ummm...excuse me. What's the point of FREEDOM OF RELIGION? I have nothing against Muslims who practice their religion and "lays low", but I take offense at people (not just Muslims) who try to force their religion and their beliefs down my throat.

[Ned]

John, you're exactly right. I believe that taxis are vehicles of "public accommodation" so I don't see how they can refuse a passenger, unless that passenger can't or won't pay, or is somehow going to endanger the cabbie. If they don't want to take people because of their religious beliefs let them find another job.

Maybe we should boycott Minneapolis until taxis in that city will provide transportation for anyone who will pay the going rate for the ride.

I was thinking, that maybe I might have to boycott them anyway, if the taxis in Minneapolis use a pig's foot based derivative oil additive to lubricate the taxis, in order to protect my religious beliefs. Of course, I'm just a customer paying for the service, and therefore don't count, at least not by Minneapolis' weird sense of values, which lets a public conveyance driver decide who is worthy to be accomodated.

[jfrenaye]

From USA Today....emplasis is mine and this is what pisses me off. As to the doctor---I agree, he is in private practice, but the pharmacist at CVS refusing to fill a prescription because of his religious beliefs....more BS..

Scores of Muslim cabdrivers in Minneapolis who say their faith prohibits them from driving passengers with alcohol have sparked a debate over how far a government must go to accommodate Islamic law.

Muslim cabdrivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have been refusing to take passengers who carry wine or spirits from duty-free stores or who are loaded down with bottles after visiting wine country.

They've also asked dispatchers not to call them to pick up passengers heading to liquor stores and bars.

The drivers, whose beliefs are not shared by all Muslims, say the airport should accommodate a deeply held religious tenet. Others say the Muslims are discriminating against people of other faiths and attempting to impose Islamic law.

"These taxi cab drivers basically think they're living in they're own countries where it's OK to impose your religious beliefs upon others," says Kamal Nawash, president of the Free Muslims Coalition, which advocates separation of religion and government.

For two years the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which regulates taxi service at the airport, had been in discussions with drivers about how to accommodate them.

The commission said it had agreed to let cabbies use lights on top of the cabs to identify drivers who won't transport alcohol so airport employees could direct passengers with alcohol to a willing driver.

The proposal created a public "backlash," says Patrick Hogan, spokesman for the commission. The commission received 400 e-mails and phone calls, almost all of them opposed to the proposal, he said.

On Tuesday, the commission rejected the proposal. That means the current policy stays. The policy says drivers who will not transport alcohol must go to the back of the taxi line.

That can force a cabbie to wait another three hours for a fare, says Abdisalam Hashim, a Muslim from Somalia who manages Bloomington Taxi.

"When I'm American, I have freedom to practice my religion and freedom to work anyplace I want to work," Hashim says. "This is the way we address Islam. ... We have the right to say this is how we do it."

More than half the airport's taxi drivers are Somali Muslims, and customers have reported being turned away by four taxis before finding a ride.

Not all Muslims agree that cab drivers are prohibited from transporting alcohol. Mahmoud Ayoub, an Islamic scholar at Temple University, says the main ban is against drinking.

"I know many Muslims who own gas stations (where beer is sold) and sell ham sandwiches," even though pork is also prohibited, Ayoub says.[/b]

Oh hell, I oppose the whole damned thing It get's me the Muslim Hashim...hey we are in America so we can practice free religion. Hey idiot....we are not preventing it. We are just asking for a ride freaking home and allowing you to earn a living and support your family. Take your freedom of religion taxi back to Somalia and see how you fare back home!

Man, I am fired up today!

[nobody122]

Well, those damn Mormons, Born Again Christians, Jehovas Witnesses and the like have been force feeding their beliefs to the American public for YEARS! I guess the Islamic faith wants to get in on making themselves a burden to society as well. Personally, I can't wait until a member of the ACLU gets into a Muslim cab and finds that the driver won't take them (even though I think the ACLU is the worse institute on the planet).

I do support the idea of them returning to the back of the line--I mean, if I am in a grocery store, get to the front of the line, and decide "wait, i really dont want to buy all this" I would have to leave and come back, or go to the back of the line.

I will put money on one thing however: if for example a jewish driver doesn't pick up a Muslim pax, then sure as hell all the Muslim groups in the USA will stage a huge uprising against the discrimination of their group.

[jfrenaye]

It is a public accomodation. Why does a traveler need to go through four cabs before one will take his fare simply because he bought some rum in the Caribbean. How does a bar owner or employer get to work if he does not have a car? Will this extend to busses, subways?

When was the last time a pilot was able to refuse to transport someone because of his religious beliefs?

The Mormons, et. al, are not imposing their religion on the masses. Yes, the CLDS knocks on doors, but they go away. There are carwashes and so forth for every denomination and we can choose to support or not support the cause.

We are not given a choice here. We want a cab and the cab does not want us. So they go to the back of the line (fair enough), but to go through 4 cabs till one will "overlook his religious beliefs" and transport you?

Man, if I had Bill Gates type money, I would put a workforce in MSP handing out bottles of hooch that say Welcome to MSP. I would do it for EVERY arriving passenger and I would do it for 6 months. I bet cabbies would be willing to take a fare then....hey anyone want to pool their money?

[cole75]

Do the cab drivers not work for a company and this company would be the ones to say who they can and cannot pick up? I think that this is the most BS thing that I have ever heard and that the MSP airport should not be allowing these cab drivers onto the airport site. Teach them a frickin lesson!