Muslim taxi drivers refuse to carry alcohol or service dogs in their cabs. Why? Why? "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."


Officials at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport want to crack down on Muslim taxi drivers who refuse to carry alcohol or service dogs in their cabs. At a meeting Wednesday of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), airport staff members asked the commission to give the go-ahead for public hearings on a tougher policy that would suspend the licenses of drivers who refuse service for any reason other than safety concerns.


About 100 people are refused cab service each month at the airport. Roughly three-quarters of the 900 taxi drivers at the airport are Somali, many of them Muslim. In recent months, the problem of service refusals for religious reasons has grown, airport officials have said, calling it "a significant customer-service issue." Last year, the airports commission received a fatwa, or religious edict, from the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society. The fatwa said that "Islamic jurisprudence" prohibits taxi drivers from carrying passengers with alcohol, "because it involves cooperating in sin according to Islam."

Is there something wrong with this picture? Why should Minneapolis officials be bending their long-standing rules, in order to give the public equal access to taxi cabs, in order to accommodate an immigrant population with self-imposed religious restrictions? If you’re not willing to give every customer at the airport equal access to your cab, your license should be revoked without question. If your religion prohibits you from picking up certain passengers based on offending characteristics—no matter what that religion is, Islam or anything else—then you shouldn’t be working as a taxi cab driver! And finally, if you’re not willing to assimilate even a little bit to the liberal American culture, which involves being open and welcoming of everyone, then go back to your own country!

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Obviously society as a whole hasn't gotten too far since the mid-evil times. Religion still plays ever very established part of day to day life.

I guess if you are religious this is great, however if you can draw a line between faith and logic, you're in trouble.

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I understand the pun but in fact real religion recognizes both faith and logic.

A Muslim called in to the show while this discussion was going on and said that these folks don't know their Koran. If they did they would know that their position regarding alcohol and dogs although taught is a violation of what they believe in this context because the Koran goes on to teach that no one else should be treated this way based on their beliefs. In fact they are tought to obey the laws of the land. Looks like they choose to believe what's Convenient.

Interesting debate. Is this any different than the Blue laws they have in Bergen County NJ that prohibit retail businesses from opening on Sunday?

I think the only reason this is even an issue is because it is the Muslim religion and not the Christian religion that is in question here.

My personal opinion is that religion has no place in law. If these people cannot offer service to everyone, then they should be be taxi cab drivers. But likewise, I think the Blue laws should be repealed, as should any other such laws in this country.

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time posting in political threads in the lounge...

Convenient decision considering all the times I flew out of Saudi and the second the pilot announced we had left Saudi airspace there was a rush on the bathrooms to change and the liquor began to flow to the point they had to cut Saudi's off.

When they opened the causeway to Bahrain I remember the Bahrainies got so sick of drunk and out of control Saudi's they created a stamp for the police that said in Arabic "Drunk", the police would stamp this in Saudi's passports and upon returning to Saudi the Religious Police would suspend their passports for a while. I believe its true that as usual when it comes to any religion someone has conveniently interpreted the language the way they want it to be understood!

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What is wrong with a dog in the car?

Muslim taxi drivers refuse to carry alcohol or service dogs in their cabs.

I understand alchol but what does dogs have to do with it?

They are entitled to practice and believe what ever they want. But they are not "entitled" to carry passengers in a cab.

B

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