Your religious beliefs and your job

[jetboatdeath]

Sounds like the cabbie's are refusing to do their job.
I know what would happen to me if i did not do mine. But i am just a middle class white guy with a wife and two kids and more and more in the U.S that just meens i don't count.
Fire them i am sure there are many other muslims standing in line that will pick up a drunk.And if not fire them as well. And on and on and on.......

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I will say one thing about it and try to stay on topic and that is most work places are so uncomforable with religion of any kind that they end up being hyprocites.
Point in case: at my work, the guy next to me has stacks of Hustler and Penthouse in his desk and he reads them openly. If middle management walks by, they join him and read it with him. If upper management sees it, they just smile and walk away.

I carry a very small Bible and have left it on top of my lunch box and have several members of management politely warn me not to open it, since there is a "no-reading of any kind" rule at work.

It does not have to do with my religion in particular, but any really. If I were to walk up and talk about the newest porn star to my boss and buddies, they join in the coversation and be happy, but if I mention Bible history, they get uncomfortable and walk away.

This is true in every industrial job that I have worked at: Porn=good. Sports=good. Religion=bad.

AoG

 

[michaeledward]

I followed a link from the Drudge Report and found the following article. It would seem the commissioner's of the Minneapolis St. Paul airport are holding perfectly sane views of what taxi drivers are expected to do at the airport. I also included a quote that indicates the issue is about service - driver's can't refuse a short fare.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070104/D8MEJEU00.html

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Officials at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport are proposing stiffer penalties - including suspension of an airport taxi license - to Muslim cab drivers who refuse service to passengers toting alcohol or service dogs.

. . . The penalties would also apply to drivers who refuse a fare because a trip is too short.

. . . "Our expectation is that if you're going to be driving a taxi at the airport, you need to provide service to anybody who wants it," commission spokesman Patrick Hogan said.
. . . "I think it's pretty much the consensus of the commissioners and the staff that we have to provide good service to the public, and that's pretty much the bottom line," McKasy said.

 

[SFC JeffJ]

A couple of years ago, a State Policeman here refused to work at one of the local casinos because gambling was contrary to his religious beliefs. What I never got was the was just there for security purposes, no one was making him gamble. He got fired, then got his job back through a lawsuit.

Personally, I found this reprehensible. He had a job, refused to do it, and got fired. Period.

Jeff

 

[jetboatdeath]

I here ya armorofgod
But, they arn't reading the hustler...
Jokes aside when did pepole get the illusion that every thing was going to be fair?

 

[Ping898]

Jokes aside when did pepole get the illusion that every thing was going to be fair?

Yes I do recall being told at least once a week when I was growing up "Life's not fair"....

 

[Carol]

Good description of the story on the link that Mike posted.

There is a difference between religious accomodation and.....the wrong job choice.

At one point in the past, I considered a small entrepreneurial entrepreneurial venture with a friend. For a few reasons (religious and otherwise), we had certain areas of business that we did not want to be in. I didn't want to be around alcohol or cigarrettes, my friend didn't want to be around the preparation of meat. The businesses that we considered included a seasonal ice cream business and a coffee push cart...as both we could easily do without interfering with what was important to us.

I'm left with thinking that the fatwa from the local Imam was misplaced. Rather than mandating that all cabbies do not pick up anyone toting alcohol or dogs, it should perhaps be a command to come together and help Islamic cabbies find a way of supporting themselves that doesn't involve bringing them in contact with dogs or someone carrying alcohol.

 

[Infinite]

Now as far as I know Cab companies are private. I believe many actually work as self employed under the banner of another. I could be wrong as I'm not a taxi-expert. But I am quite sure they aren't paid by the government.

That would give them a little more descretion over who they allow in a cab that they, or a private company owns would it not?

That said, the airport should also be within its rights to refuse them airport licenses if they refuse the airports passengers, and they should probably do so.

There are two types of cab companies. Those with fleets which all have the same looking vehicles and those that employ private owners. The private owners typically have just a placard of the company they are servicing. They also typically do not service airports.

NOW it is interesting that the airport can refuse to allow cabs that do not meet their guidlines. Someone mentioned that the ACLU may call fowl because it is focused on Muslims.

This isn't true ANYONE who chooses not to follow the rules will not be allowed to work the airport. Additionally the airport is not the only place you can make money. Finally you can drop off just not pick up at the airport.

Now private business does have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. This doesn't apply here because the airport is the one that is setting the guidelines. Compaire this to Walmart, "If you want to sell on my shelves then you must do x." is the same as this scenario here.

Discrimination by law definition is not the same as the social definition. I'm paraphrasing for I am not a lawyer.

Social discrimination is the process of devaluing someone for attributes and or beliefs.

Legal descrimination is the process of restricting or denying a specific group of people based on a commonality.

The airport is not saying, "No muslims can run cabs!" it is saying, "Those muslims that refuse to meet the minimum set of guidelines for the airport will not be licensesed to work here."

It WOULD be discrimination if the airport said, "Because of the religious beliefs of muslims we believe it makes them unable to perform in the cab function. Therefore no muslims will be allowed to run cabs within the airport.

So I think the issue here is legal vs social.

 

[Andrew Green]

It WOULD be discrimination if the airport said, "Because of the religious beliefs of muslims we believe it makes them unable to perform in the cab function. Therefore no muslims will be allowed to run cabs within the airport.

That I can't see them saying, not in those words.

But I could see a airport saying something like "Due to security risks and threat of Terrorism.... including but not limited to people with ties to Iraq, Iran, etc."

Then getting roasted by the media until they backed down.

 

[Infinite]

That I can't see them saying, not in those words.

But I could see a airport saying something like "Due to security risks and threat of Terrorism.... including but not limited to people with ties to Iraq, Iran, etc."

Then getting roasted by the media until they backed down.

Then once again we would have discrimination by legal standards. The media wouldn't have to do anything the courts would decide that.

Mostly our version of legal descrimination is based off the we do not want to be facious or a dictator.

 

[Andrew Green]

That sort of discrimination does happen though, often by the people making the laws and the people enforcing them.

 

[morph4me]

The airport is not saying, "No muslims can run cabs!" it is saying, "Those muslims that refuse to meet the minimum set of guidelines for the airport will not be licensesed to work here."

I believe that the airport would be saying "ANYONE that refuses to meet the minimum set of guidelines for the airport will not be licensesed to work here."

 

[Phoenix44]

If you are licensed by the government, as pharmacists are, then you should do your job, period. Your job is to dispense medications as prescribed by a physician, not to pick and chose which medications you will dispense based on your own personal opinions, which, incidentally, could be construed as practicing medicine without a medical license. What's next? Refusing to dispense cancer chemotherapy because it could cause birth defects? These pharmacists should lose their licenses, IMO. Orthodox Jewish medical residents are not permitted to stop working on Saturdays, or to refuse to touch patients of the opposite sex.

However, any pharmacist who insists on deciding which medications s/he will or will not dispense should lose his contract with Medicare, Medicaid, any plan that does business with the government, any plans affiliated with ERISA or the armed forces.

So if a pharmacist is so morally opposed to any particular drug, he can refuse to dispense it...but then most patients with Medicare, Medicaid, etc, would either have to pay him out of pocket, or go elsewhere for their Lipitor and Prozac. The pharmacist would take a big hit, but he'd be true to his superior morality. And any patients who want to support him will pay out of pocket.

It's no different from anyone else with strong values. I buy fair trade coffee because I believe in the ethics. I pay more for it. It's called "putting your money where your mouth is."

 

[Tez3]

There seems to be different views among Muslims about alcohol. My daughter is currently working in Dubai, she says there are bars, pubs and clubs all serving alcohol. They can also buy alcohol, if they do the taxi drivers don't care, they just want to be paid! the police do take exception to drunks on the streets but then that's no bad thing! Incidentally my daughter's favourite pub is an Irish one. (That could call for a new thread.... why wherever you go in the world is there an Irish pub?)
She did mention something funny about dogs though! During the day you see no dogs but at night you see owners with their dogs on leads sneaking them around the place!