Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

Yesterday while a former Navy SEAL from a Boston suburb was being
killed in attack on U.S. consulate in Libya our statehouse was having a
celebration

Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan
4th Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at State House- Hall of Nurses - Ethnic & Cultural - Boston.com

You can't make this stuff up !

I am so tired of the pandering to the Muslims.

We cannot have Santa Claus, Christmas trees, or say Merry Christmas, but
we can celebrate Ramadan at the Statehouse.

What ever happened to the seperation of Church and State?
You don't get any closer to the state, than the state house.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

Didn't read link, but I gotta agree with you on this, prolly for different reasons

Of course, there should not be any celebration of any religious holidy at the State House, City Hall, Town Hall or the Capitol. It's absurd.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

So the implication here is that there are no mentions or recognition of Christmas -- or other religious holidays -- at the State House?

That sounds pretty unlikely.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

I largely agree with Wistah on this, but to cancel a celebration of Ramadan because of what happened stinks of bigotry. The acts in Egypt and Libya should be viewed as crimes, not as acts of religious faith in my opinion. Imagine if a Muslim government canceled a Christian event because of an anti-Muslim crime here. Wouldn't you think that was wrong? To cancel this Ramadan event because of the crimes in the Middle East would be the same as equating the Muslim religion with terrorism, which is basically the inverse of the what the Muslim mobs did in the ME.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

btw, if we're going to complain about religion in government, let's focus on laws, which actually impact people's lives -- and not waste time on meaningless "pandering" like holiday observations

(I actually disagree with wistah here -- I'm fine with Christmas and other religious holiday observations. I think they're good for communities. But they shouldn't just be Christian holidays, a notion that seems to piss a lot of Christians off)

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

I'm fine with them, too...in churches, homes, TV, stores and other "private" places.

How are they good for communities in settings like the State House? People can't get enough of their religious crap in their church? (I know...I should talk, being a Santaist, but my religion is different!) Communities can be reinforced in lots of other ways without having false religions forced on us.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

Santa counts, too!

Look, this isn't one I'm going to fight for, because I agree with you that there's too much religion in government, and as I already stated, there are both the truly detrimental influences of religion (eg, banning gay marriage) and uneven treatment of religions when it comes to holidays.

But if a town wants to put up a Christmas tree and a giant menorah or something come December, lights, whatever, I just don't have a problem with it. I can only have so much outrage. ;)

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

My outrage is running on fumes ... there are times I wish I had saved some for a later date. ;)

This looks like it was a small kick off / donate to charity type of event - no big deal and good for the community.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

Too be honest with you, I have no problem with religious observations.
I do have a problem with (pandering to one religion "our enemies religion")
while Vilifying others.

I do not want religion preached in public schools, I would not have a problem
with the brief overview of each religion's beliefs.

I do have a problem with the state saluting ramadan. These are the same people who do not allow santa claus, nativity scenes, or christmas trees on public property. They may allow a tree... but you can't call it a christmas tree. You have to call it a holiday tree.

Let's level the playing field....
Let's not call it the Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan
Let's call it the Massachusetts Salute to the Ramada-Inn.

Re: Fourth Annual Massachusetts Salute to Ramadan at the State House.
 

Google search shows that there was a Christmas tree and a menorah lighting last year.

Not sure why there's a problem with an hour long recognition of Ramadan that apparently raised some $ for charity -- unless you're opposed to all religious recognitions, like wistah is.

If we're going to recognize religious holidays, it's not "pandering" just because it's Islam. No religion is pandered to in America anywhere near as much as Christianity.