The speech was so ingratiating that it pratically begs for an eyeroll:
One of those values is the freedom to practice your religion – a right that is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution. Nashala Hearn, who joins us from Muskogee, Oklahoma, took a stand for that right at an early age. When her school district told her that she couldn’t wear the hijab, she protested that it was a part of her religion. The Department of Justice stood behind her, and she won her right to practice her faith.
Putting aside the issues of young Muslim girls, freedom of religion, and Rifqa Bary, and putting aside also whether this was a case of keeping government schools out of religion or keeping religion out of government schools – why?
He didn’t need this passage. He could have gone directly into his feel-good paragraph about Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, the 5’5″ Massachusetts girl who’s an “inspiration to all of us” because her basketball skills prove “anything is possible.” He had no obligation to note how wonderfully wonderful it is that little Muslim girls wage legal wars so they can don what many consider to be a symbol of oppression.
When Obama addresses evangelicals, do you think he congratulates them on fighting for voluntary school prayer? School prayer should theoretically be less controversial than the hijab, if only because no former Christian has ever made the case that communal prayer as such relegates half of Christians to second-class status. So I’m thinking he probably does, in the interest of consistency.
References:
* REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT IFTAR DINNER [White House]
* Christian Teen Flees Home, Says She Fears Honor Killing by Muslim Father [ABC News]
* Why I lifted the veil on Islam [Telegraph]
Previously:
* We’re Going To Miss Westminster Abbey – “Modesty” Preventing Muslims Doctors And Nurses From Scrubbing Up (Also: Aussie Universities Under Pressure To Accommodate Muslim Students, Segregate Women)
* Swiss Foreign Minister Dons Hijab, Tosses Iran An Economic Lifeline
* Hey Gals, Check This Out – If You Don’t Wear A Veil In Iran, You Might Have To Die. Others Who Might Have To Die: Your Husbands And Fathers.
