The Ramadan dinner at the White House
September 02, 2009
Ethel C. Fenig
President Barack Obama (D) worked very hard on his official vacation on Martha's Vineyard, reappointing Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman and speaking at the late Senator Edward Kennedy's (D-MA) funeral. So now he's off to Camp David for an extended Labor Day week end break. OK, he deserves it. But in between his vacations he managed to sandwich in hosting a White House dinner for the Muslim month of Ramadan, when Muslims believe Muhammad received the Koran. There is a long tradition of presidential dinners acknowledging important holidays or anniversaries of the various religions and ethnicities in this country. Speaking to the Muslims, government leaders and other invited guests at the dinner, Obama celebrated ,"how much Muslims have enriched America and its culture -- in ways both large and small."
Some excerpts:
Obama: One of those values is the freedom to practice your religion -- a right that is enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Nashala Hearn, who joins us from Muskogee, Okla., 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. She even traveled to Washington to testify before Congress. Her words spoke to a tolerance that is far greater than mistrust -- when she first wore her headscarf to school, she said, "I received compliments from the other kids."
Good for the Department of Justice. However--and understandably--Obama did not mention the case of Rifqa Bary, the American teen ager born to Muslim immigrant parents who fled her home, fearing her parents would kill her after her conversion to Christianity...
Obama: One of those values is the freedom to practice your religion -- a right that is enshrined in the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Nashala Hearn, who joins us from Muskogee, Okla., 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. She even traveled to Washington to testify before Congress. Her words spoke to a tolerance that is far greater than mistrust -- when she first wore her headscarf to school, she said, "I received compliments from the other kids."
Good for the Department of Justice. However--and understandably--Obama did not mention the case of Rifqa Bary, the American teen ager born to Muslim immigrant parents who fled her home, fearing her parents would kill her after her conversion to Christianity...
posted by jillosophy at 9/02/2009 11:28:00 AM
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