Could This Be Happening Here Now?

[betsy]

I found this online.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...201-601,00.html

Muslim cabbies refuse to carry booze

Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent

October 02, 2006

MUSLIM taxi drivers in Minnesota have declared jihad on duty-free, refusing to carry passengers who are carrying alcohol.

The ban has created chaos at Minneapolis-St Paul international airport, where about three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers are Somali and mostly Muslim.

Airport officials have begun working with taxi drivers to install colour-coded lights on taxi roofs to indicate which are alcohol friendly and which are not.

The lights are expected to be introduced by the end of the year.

Ali Culed, a Somali Muslim who's been driving an airport cab for eight years, said the ban was "a religious issue"..........cont

[myata]

I don't quite understand your concern. Wouldn't it be like refusing to rent a hall for same sex marriage?

[Higgly]

So look for another cab. Why is this a big deal?

[sharkman]

Three quarters of the cabbies are doing this. You could be refused several times before you have to fight over the one cabbie who doesn't abide by Muslim religious law.

I find this story quite telling. In another thread here, some posters are saying how if we just wait long enough, Muslims will be assimilated into our populations and will accept us like one big happy family. Of course said posters will now come runnng to spread some more of their well intentioned foolery.

They won't accept Western norms in the future anymore than they do now. We are the Great Satan.

A quick comparison: Christian missionaries are illegal in Muslim countries and are arrested persecuted and jailed. Muslims, however, are allowed to proselytize to their hearts content. They do not accept our culture, and we accept theirs. Our acceptance has not reaped any benefit save to have European areas overrun with a culture that won't assimilate.

[Argus]

I don't quite understand your concern. Wouldn't it be like refusing to rent a hall for same sex marriage?

No. It's nothing whatever similar. Taxis are licenced by the city and required to carry any passenger. There are usually only very few acceptable grounds for turning down a hire, and them having alcohol is not one of them.

If Muslims want to operate a private taxi service perhaps the city could licence one. But it should fire anyone who refuses to carry a fare for any reason other than the very few acceptable cases.

[Argus]

So look for another cab. Why is this a big deal?

Suppose it was non-Muslim taxis refusing to carry Muslims? Would you the say "Just look for another cab. Why is this a big deal?"

Any taxi driver behaving in this fashion should simply lose his licence. If they have a problem with the culture around them they should not be operating a public service.

What's next? Suppose they start refusing to carry women who are, in their opinion, immodestly dressed? Would that be okay, too?

[betsy]

I don't quite understand your concern. Wouldn't it be like refusing to rent a hall for same sex marriage?

No, it would be like gays having to go back to the closet just to get the cab ride home.

[myata]

No, it would be like gays having to go back to the closet just to get the cab ride home.

No, but you're just plain wrong even though it was your own post. Nowhere in did it mention that they refuse service exclusively to heterosexual Catholics (i.e. discrimination on the basis of religion). Their problem is with a particular product. BTW weren't it one of you guys recently advocating the right of public officials to refuse service to the people of certain sexual orientation? Talk about hypocrisy, but somehow I'm not surprised.

[betsy]

No, it would be like gays having to go back to the closet just to get the cab ride home.

No, but you're just plain wrong even though it was your own post. Nowhere in did it mention that they refuse service exclusively to heterosexual Catholics (i.e. discrimination on the basis of religion). Their problem is with a particular product. BTW weren't it one of you guys recently advocating the right of public officials to refuse service to the people of certain sexual orientation? Talk about hypocrisy, but somehow I'm not surprised.

Uh-uh. Not the same.

No one was trying to bring alcohol into their mosque.

This is about public service.

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

[myata]

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

I'm not sure you can read right ... OK .., again: can you point to the place in your own post where a service was refused based on the religion of the customer?

[BubberMiley]

Not the same. They aren't refusing a person. They're refusing a beverage. Beverages have no rights.

[betsy]

Talk about hypocrisy, but somehow I'm not surprised.

No kidding.

And you can add double standard to that!

You think nothing wrong about a particular religious group thumping their nose at our way of life and bending our laws....and yet you get all indignant about a church wishing non-believers to at least respect its belief within its walls.

The Muslim cabdrivers are ENFORCING their beliefs on you. We Christians are only....preaching.

Maybe you'll change your tune when you get harassed sexually on the street by a group of radicals who would taunt you for being a whore...simply because you've got your face uncovered.

That kind of incident happened in a neighborhood in England.

[betsy]

Not the same. They aren't refusing a person. They're refusing a beverage. Beverages have no rights.

Where do they get their say to refuse a particular beverage in a cab meant for public service? They can refuse it in their private homes or mosque.

Why was thier knife accepted in a public school? Nobody was refusing the person. They're just refusing the knife!

What gives them this special status? Why do they have this "bubble of immunity?"

[Michael Hardner]

Uh-uh. Not the same.

No one was trying to bring alcohol into their mosque.

This is about public service.

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

betsy

What's more of a public service than... well... a public service ? That is - a civil wedding ?

I support the right of the taxi drivers to not drive booze, but the company is within its rights to demand that any new drivers they hire agree to carry booze in their cabs. And JPs who have been performing weddings throughout their careers should be allowed to decline a same-sex ceremony.

Now THAT is consistent.

[betsy]

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

I'm not sure you can read right ... OK .., again: can you point to the place in your own post where a service was refused based on the religion of the customer?

A service was refused based on the religion of the cab driver/restaurant owner!

[betsy]

And JPs who have been performing weddings throughout their careers should be allowed to decline a same-sex ceremony.

Now THAT is consistent.

Did I say anywhere I agree to that? They are not priests. A priest has the right to decline....I don't know about civil servants.

Actually...this incident gives a different perspective to the alleged religious rights being allegedly proposed (which allegedly is said to be untrue).

It could open a whole new can of worms.

[B. Max]

Uh-uh. Not the same.

No one was trying to bring alcohol into their mosque.

This is about public service.

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

betsy

What's more of a public service than... well... a public service ? That is - a civil wedding ?

I support the right of the taxi drivers to not drive booze, but the company is within its rights to demand that any new drivers they hire agree to carry booze in their cabs. And JPs who have been performing weddings throughout their careers should be allowed to decline a same-sex ceremony.

Now THAT is consistent.

Well at least they don't chop your neck for having booze. At least not yet. I wonder what would happen if a couple of same sex perverts tried getting in their cabs.

[betsy]

Uh-uh. Not the same.

No one was trying to bring alcohol into their mosque.

This is about public service.

If you think what they're doing is right....then obviously you won't find anything wrong if a restaurant refuses to serve a Muslim...or a Black....based on whatever "religious belief" the owner of the establishment may have?

betsy

What's more of a public service than... well... a public service ? That is - a civil wedding ?

I support the right of the taxi drivers to not drive booze, but the company is within its rights to demand that any new drivers they hire agree to carry booze in their cabs. And JPs who have been performing weddings throughout their careers should be allowed to decline a same-sex ceremony.

Now THAT is consistent.

Well at least they don't chop your neck for having booze. At least not yet. I wonder what would happen if a couple of same sex perverts tried getting in their cabs.

Somehow I've got the feeling that some gays would willingly hide in the closet...temporarily...while they are in the cab. But of course I could be wrong.

[myata]

A service was refused based on the religion of the cab driver/restaurant owner!

Sorry, but you're clearly confused between three of your own posts. And I'm a bit in a rush to help you out. Till soon.

[betsy]

No, it would be like gays having to go back to the closet just to get the cab ride home.

No, but you're just plain wrong even though it was your own post. Nowhere in did it mention that they refuse service exclusively to heterosexual Catholics (i.e. discrimination on the basis of religion). Their problem is with a particular product. BTW weren't it one of you guys recently advocating the right of public officials to refuse service to the people of certain sexual orientation? Talk about hypocrisy, but somehow I'm not surprised.

But who sez the refusal was over being heterosexual Catholics?

I know it was about alcohol! It is against their religion! That was the reason why they refused the woman...she has duty-free alcohol in her possession!

That is why I said it's like gays having to go back in the closet if they want a cab ride home! Because homosexuals are beheaded in Muslim countries....not just for the fun of it...but because, like alcohol, homosexuality is against their religion! So there's much likelihood they'll refuse openly gay passengers!

Are we on the same page now?

[betsy]

Airport passengers should voluntarily refuse to ride in taxis driven by those who want to enforce the ban...regardless whether they've got alcohol or not. Unless the public start doing their own little protest....it will only get worse.

[jbg]

I find this story quite telling. In another thread here, some posters are saying how if we just wait long enough, Muslims will be assimilated into our populations and will accept us like one big happy family. Of course said posters will now come runnng to spread some more of their well intentioned foolery.

They won't accept Western norms in the future anymore than they do now. We are the Great Satan.

Exactly. Imagine the uproar if Conservative cabbies refused to carry fares to Liberal or NDP ridings? Let's face it, they want to impose dhimmitude on us.

[Chuck U. Farlie]

Shit... if it ever happens to you call the taxi's dispatch... tell them the cabbie won't give you a ride. They'll can his ass soon enough, after all, what are taxi's used for at night time but to cart drunks around?

On a side note... when I first moved to Indonesia 6 years ago, me and my British housemate used to buy some beer and go ride the public buses to see where they went... nobody ever said a word about us drinking - in public - on a public bus - in a muslim country... good times... except for having to get off the bus every 20 minutes to piss. Good thing we didn't bring any BLT sandwiches though...

[sharkman]

I don't quite understand your concern. Wouldn't it be like refusing to rent a hall for same sex marriage?

No. It's nothing whatever similar. Taxis are licenced by the city and required to carry any passenger. There are usually only very few acceptable grounds for turning down a hire, and them having alcohol is not one of them.

If Muslims want to operate a private taxi service perhaps the city could licence one. But it should fire anyone who refuses to carry a fare for any reason other than the very few acceptable cases.

If the story was about Christians refusing to carry drinkers, the uproar from liberals would shake the nation. Religious bigots, judgemental prudes, yada yada yada. But if Muslims do it, God bless them.

[bradco]

so do they check through peoples luggage? Just tell the guy you dont have booze, thats what I would do. He gets to think he is following his religious beliefs and I get my booze....win-win situation.

Why do religious freedoms (Christian, Islamic and others) always get priority over individual freedoms? As a person who doesn't believe in religions I dont understand this so maybe someone can explain it to me.