What did they eat at their Ramadan lunch table? But anyway, they got one, while Catholic students did not get one for Lent. I think both are a bit silly, for different reasons: the Muslims aren't eating lunch at all, and the Catholics, unless they're serious-minded Eastern Catholics, probably aren't observing Lent in a way that sets them off from the rest of the student body. It's all just identity politics, with a tincture of Islamic supremacism. Still, if they're going to grant it to one group, they should grant it to the other. "School accused of favoring Muslim students," from UPI, May 7 (thanks to Twostellas):
TINLEY PARK, Ill., May 7 (UPI) -- A suburban Chicago school district has put cultural diversity on its meeting agenda after a complaint that Muslim students received preferential treatment.Posted at May 8, 2008 4:46 PMThe principal at Prairie View Middle School allowed a group of Muslim students to have a separate lunch table to accommodate religious observances during the month of Ramadan, but rejected a similar request by Catholic students for Lent, The Chicago Daily Southtown reported Wednesday.
"It's not just about the table," said Jennifer Cimaglia, a Tinley Park mother of three. "It appears that there is preferential treatment for Muslim students."...