Ours is a secular society and long may it be so but that does not stop the religiously obsessive from trying to reshape the way we do things to suit their own religious paradigms.
MUSLIM university students want lectures to be rescheduled to fit in with prayer timetables and separate male and female eating and recreational areas established on Australian campuses.
International Muslim students, predominantly from Saudi Arabia, have asked universities in Melbourne to change class times so they can attend congregational prayers. They also want a female-only area for Muslim students to eat and relax.
But at least one institution has rejected their demands, arguing that the university is secular and it does not want to set a precedent for requests granted in the name of religious beliefs.
La Trobe University International chief officer John Molony said several students had approached the Bundoora institution about rearranging class times to fit in with daily prayers.
Mr Molony said the university was attempting to “meet the needs” of an increasing number of Muslim international students, including doubling the size of the prayer room on campus.
La Trobe University International College director Martin Van Run said that although it was involved in discussions with the Muslim students who had made the requests, the university was not planning to change any timetables.
I am pleased that those bastions of multiculturalism, moral relativism and political correctness are resisting this assault on our secular education , because once we give in to this sort of thing how long will it be before all of our Uni students (like prison inmates up here in Queensland ) are forced to eat only Halal meat? Or they are unable to get a bacon sarnie?
Living in a tolerant society does not mean that we have to pander to all kinds of religious ritual. I have respect for the sort of faith traditions that can give us a good template for the way our social systems can work but I have never been able to understand why any omnipotent deity would need human beings to supplicate themselves before him. Surely empty ritual is less important than what is in our hearts and the only ones to benefit from those rituals are the temple builders and the clergy who make their living by misrepresenting the deity.
Cheers Comrades
😉
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 
Ours is a secular society…
(ahem) hmmm…really..?
I cannot but help to see the influence in Xtianity in many aspects of Australian society. Swearing on the Bible in court would be one example. Then there are government’s handing out taxpayers money to private Xtian schools…and…I wonder has there ever been a state funeral held in a mosque?
What is it with You and the word “Christianity” SM are your frightened of hell-fire and damnation or something?
But to your point although I don’t deny the influence of the Christian faith on the institutions of the nation and many of those have actually benefited from the association one of these is of course the law and while you may be asked to swear on the bible you have the right to affirm instead and such an affirmation has equal standing in law so the way that you may swear an oath is in no way an indication that this country is not a secular state.
The correct response to such garbage.
I wonder if more people and institutions in more places took this position the problem would go away.It seems to me that it is to be expected people (groups) may ask for something. There shouldn’t be outrage at the request. There should also not be outrage when the answer is no.
Cute image Elijah 🙂
In2thefray,
what you say gets to the crux of the matter , anyone has a right to request but when the only answer they will accept is “yes” that request becomes a demand backed up by intimidation.
There is halal bacon, only our halal ones taste better 😉 We just choose to not make ourselves sick because we know how many gazillions of bacteria and diseases there is in the real bacon and it just tastes better 😉 (hehe)
I’m Muslim and Aussie-born and I think they have gone a bit out of line. Just having the prayer room is tolerable enough for me. They are Saudi’s, what else did you expect?
Also just because you might see religious rituals as empty due to lack of understanding doesn’t mean they’re actually empty.
I’m expat-ting at the moment and I just miss all the righ-wing ramblings that normally goes on when I’m back in Perth. Just coming across your post today really makes me feel at home 🙂