Muslim School denied entry into Texas Private School Sports League (based on simple questionaire)

With 500 students, increasing academic prestige and an established soccer team, Iman Academy SW, an Islamic school in Houston, was seeking membership in 2010 to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, a group that organizes competition among more than 200 schools in the state.

They were asked some questions which I feel are more than fair.

In addition to an application form, Iman Academy SW was given a questionnaire. Among the questions:

“Historically, there is nothing in the Koran that fully embraces Christianity or Judaism in the way a Christian and/or a Jew understands his religion. Why, then, are you interested in joining an association whose basic beliefs your religion condemns?”

“It is our understanding that the Koran tells you not to mix with (and even eliminate) the infidels. Christians and Jews fall into that category. Why do you wish to join an organization whose membership is in disagreement with your religious beliefs?”

“How does your school address certain Christian concepts? (i.e. celebrating Christmas)”

They are calling this racist. What do you think ATS? This is a Catholic and predominately Christian Sports Association. They were denied entry. I think they were well in their rights. Understand this, Muslims do attend Catholic, Episcopalian schools and they have to go to Mass and Prayer and even do acting in the Christmas plays. That's not at all fought. But, this is an entire Muslim School team. They haven't been integrated into mixing religions.

The questionaire says it all. Why do you want to participate with humans you consider Infidels? I'm saying the two religions do not believe in the same things also. Is this an attempt to rile things up? Racism is claimed and they want a lawsuit on this case.

Link

Islam is not a race

So how can they claim racism?

Ive known white muslims, and a black muslim........

I think they dont have a leg to stand on , and a private association has the right to deny whoever they wish......

I think they had valid questions and were within their rights to do so, seeing as how you have to APPLY to become a part of said program.......

I love how people play the racist card w/out knowing the term, it just goes to show that some people do things for a totally different motivation.

reply to post by chloe4412


Well thought out questions...


And for an ideology that dismisses all others, I would think they would appreciate an outsider understanding this...hence the questionaire.


Regardless, muslims have been squatting in many a different region, demanding full privilages, if not more...nice to see the tables turned.

reply to post by ManBehindTheMask

I think they dont have a leg to stand on , and a private association has the right to deny whoever they wish......

I agree completely.

reply to post by facelift

Regardless, muslims have been squatting in many a different region, demanding full privilages, if not more...nice to see the tables turned.

You said a mouthful there! They are playing a game I don't think they will win. That's the point of this story, the tables are turned.

reply to post by chloe4412


what utter twaddle - what does someones attitude to christmas have to do with thier eligibility to compete in sports tournaments ??????????

call me cynical - but it looks to me like the " questionaire " was written to exclude an islamic school

reply to post by ignorant_ape


And this is a problem why?

Personally, until certain muslims in western society stop segregating themselves at every opportunity using islam as the divider, then this is a good thing.

Bit like begging to come to a slumber party that everyone in your neighbourhood is going to, and then saying you want it at midday and in a library...

Religion and its fictional "enemies" packed with hate and discrimination towards each other. What a despicable gang the "holy" religious cult members are.

ALL of the religions should be DENIED... everywhere upon this planet.

Sick people.

Who is saying it's racist? Also there's a lot missing from the OP and the linked article. It's actually a NY Times article which is a lot longer. Also it should be noted that the article linked in the OP is from a Catholic news publication with the author stating his shock at the end that Catholics could engage in xenophobia.

I find the questionnaire to be full of stereotypes and misconceptions, but to be fair it was stated that they had very little understanding of Islam.

On Dec. 8, 2010, Tapps representatives distributed the results of the survey, reporting that 83 of 220 schools had replied, Yager said in his letter. Some 37 percent of respondents felt that it was in Tapps’s best interest to accept Islamic schools, and 63 percent said it was not, Yager said. Ten schools said they would leave Tapps if a majority said yes to admitting an Islamic school; one school said it would leave Tapps if the majority said no.

NY Times

I also don't see anything about a lawsuit but that might be local knowledge added in at the end.

Iman Academy SW did fill out the application and questionnaire and was denied membership. It did not challenge the association’s decision.

It doesn't sound like they intend to sue.

“I think we can sympathize with people trying to satisfy the largest number of people,” Horwitz said. “But the nation itself is becoming more religiously diverse. That doesn’t mean these groups necessarily are not interested in interacting with society at large. We may have thought of them as part of an insulated community, but they’re not.

“The more group leagues are growing, the more they’re going to have to cope with religious diversity more often and in more complicated ways.”

I think that's very true, globalization is here already and just growing...we had better get used to having to mingle. I can't help but find it ironic that so many people are xenophobic or isolationist or in general just want to be amongst their 'own kind', yet praise capitalism and corporations. It's capitalism, corporations and war (MIC) driving globalization. You can't have it both ways, sorry.

Originally posted by chloe4412
“Historically, there is nothing in the Koran that fully embraces Christianity or Judaism in the way a Christian and/or a Jew understands his religion. Why, then, are you interested in joining an association whose basic beliefs your religion condemns?”

How absurd. I guess that ignorance abounds.

There's absolutely nothing in the Old or New Testament which even pretends to ''embrace'' any other religion or belief which is not fully outlined within those books.

"He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Originally posted by HangTheTraitors
Religion and its fictional "enemies" packed with hate and discrimination towards each other. What a despicable gang the "holy" religious cult members are.

ALL of the religions should be DENIED... everywhere upon this planet.

Sick people.

so other peoples belief systems should be denied because its not the same as YOUR belief system?

you want freedom to believe what you want, but you dont want others to have it...

isnt that a bit hypocritical

LOL! Another great chance for chistians to act more like christ... and they fail.

Im sure jesus is sitting in heaven with his palm planted squarely in his face.

reply to post by chloe4412


They are directing the questions towards the islamic faith questioning their intentions to enter which could be seen as religioust, but then again this is a private christian tournament as I understand?

The private-schools association, known by the acronym Tapps, was established in the 1970s to coordinate sports among Christian schools. The organization drew national attention this week when it refused to reschedule a state semifinal boys basketball game for an Orthodox Jewish day school, which could not play at the scheduled time because its players observe the Sabbath.

So really, I don't think you can fault the tournament holders for this, it's fairly clear that this is an event catered towards christian schools......

In all fairness if it is a private organization, it is their right to run their program how they like as long as they aren't receiving public funds for it. Other than that I think it is sad that the organization took an opportunity to make a positive situation for better understanding and threw it away. Children especially should have as many opportunities to meet and interact with as many different cultures and faiths as possible.

@ SouthernGuardian I do think you can hold them responsible in that situation because they were admitted into the league. But on the other side of that the school also has to bear responsibility for joining the league as well. Either way the only people really hurt by that decision in the end is the team that gets a default win and advances without knowing whether they deserved it or not.

like posters keep saying, it is a private organization. that said why would a islamic school be trying to get involved with a christain organization????? like one poster just linked, this org did not change thier schedule for a jewish school just because that school observed a holiday that the christian schools didnt.

and this may sound extreme, but muslims seem to want all their religious freedoms in thier new country of choice at whatever expense. what would this muslim school say about playing against women?, if this league allows that..what about games during the fast? why does this muslim school want to play in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools?? and in TEXAS............ are there not 'public' schools they could compete against? why try to get acepted to a 'christian' league???? unless you wanted to try to impart your ways uponst the 'infidels'??? to show the woos of thier ways ect ect ect.....

Originally posted by HangTheTraitors
ALL of the religions should be DENIED... everywhere upon this planet.

You sound just like Stalin.
Communism bands free religion and promotes
marshal military rule.
Personally, I will always abide to a higher entity before
any goverment

btw I want to see how far Olympic memberships will
go to exclude non-jews ?
op story is not rational it belongs on jerry springer,
only the 1/2 functioning would flame with it.

Originally posted by clearmind
why would a islamic school be trying to get involved with a christain organization?????

Like Jesus pbuh is a Muslim prophet, but
then you're so up on matters that would know that already.

___________________________

reply to post by chloe4412


That questionaire was not very simple, but I suspect the person who wrote it was.

The questionaire is offensive in that it makes assumptions about the beliefs of the Muslims and present them as facts that must be apologized for.

Would it be more obvious that this is wrong if it was someone familiar on the receiving end? What if Christians were being made into pariahs with questions like,

Historically, there is nothing in the Bible that fully embraces Islam, Hinduism, or Atheism, in the way that adherents understand their own beliefs? Why, then, are you interested in joining an association whose basic beliefs your religion condemns?” (please note the change between the two sentences from 'doesn't fully embrace in the way that they themselves understand it' to "condemns", which asserts that Islam condems anything that it does not fully relate to and agree with. Kinda ironic- the pot calling the kettle a xenophobe.)

or How do you address the Lupercalia?

Of course I've saved the best for last.

“It is our understanding that the Koran tells you not to mix with (and even eliminate) the infidels. Christians and Jews fall into that category. Why do you wish to join an organization whose membership is in disagreement with your religious beliefs?”

(emphasis added)

It seems fairly obvious to me that they wish to join an organization whose membership is in disagreement with their religious beliefs because they have something to gain from it and the understanding that they must shun or eliminate outsiders is incorrect.

Why wouldn't you interact with outsiders for your own benefit if you could do so on terms that didn't hurt you? Yes, centuries ago, under very different conditions, it was common in many cultures to exclude or even kill outsiders for fear that they represented a threat to the existence or identity of the group, but the stakes have lowered with time and progress. Now there are fewer unknowns and more protections and it is less reasonable to go to such extremes (i would argue it was never reasonable, but it is even less reasonable now nevertheless). The identity of the group can now be preserved even in heavy contact with others economically politically socially etc... a person who wishes to create a new generation in their own image still might exclude others sexually, and a person who is weak in their faith but truly wishes to be devoted to it might choose not to discuss certain topics with outsiders, for fear they will be led astray, but the gap between us is no longer so big that we can't fit into the same soccer field together.

But the imperialistic western spirit doesn't seem to acknowledge that fact. The west likes everything to run like a machine, and that means every peice has to be the shaped to precise specifications. It's not good enough that you can agree to disagree and learn how to interact well across the gap you must cross the gap and be just like us, or we're gonna turn on the pressure and try to forge you into what we want.

reply to post by chloe4412


They should have been allowed to join the competition.

Only for the competition to be banned because according to their religions those things are not allowed anyways.

Retards, the lot of them.

the islamic school is not attempting to join a " christian organisation " its attempting to join a sports tournament for private religios schools

as i asked earlier - do you need to celebrate christmas to play soccor in texas ?

what if a private jewish school tried to join ?? would the issue of christmass come up

One more thing, having now looked through the replies as well. I'm rather shocked at how many people are all on board for the right to exclude others based on differences that have nothing to do with the matter at hand, because of the "rights of private organizations".

Why stop at kicking them off the soccer field for their religion? Why not let private HOAs kick them out of the neighborhood. Living next door to someone exposes you to their culture more than a game of soccer afterall- why should the home owner's association have to deal with a possible culture-clash just because these people want a place to live and work and play and weren't content to do it in exactly the spot where their momma gave birth to them? Everybody oughta be burried up to their knees at birth, and we just add another inch of soil around them each birthday; it would solve a lot of problems, even social security. There would be a few new problems to work on of course. And then there's private companies. Why shouldn't I be allowed to exclude Muslims from employment at my business? I'm not making any money for the time I spend telling my racist employees to stop mistreating him- having to write up and fire anyone who slips up and uses a slur to avoid a lawsuit- its a burden. Its easier just to not hire him... then he'll end up homeless that will make it ok for my employees to call him whatever the hell they want.