[thechat] Islam -- alcohol

Chris Marsh chris at webbtech.co.uk
Tue Dec 17 15:36:00 CST 2002


Erika

> >Either the individual concerned was using religion as an
> excuse to be
> >lazy or he was not the questioning type and had merely
> accepted islamic
> >dogma without any thought as to how it should be applied in a
> >predominantly non-islamic society.
>
> ya know, maybe he was just making a choice.  doing the best
> he can do in the world today.

It's a possibility. I am utterly confused by the choice he made, though.
He must have applied for the job knowing that the organisation sold
alcohol. He then took on a job he was unwilling or unable to fulfill.
This is however, his "right" because the reasons are religious. I've got
no problem with this in principle either. The thing that puzzles me is
in an area where jobs of that type NOT involving alcohol abound why
would anyone choose to put themselves in a position that they would
necessarily find distasteful?

> the 'religion' I 'practice' says that a woman should isolate
> herself, fast, and not cook, not work for 10 days every
> month.  this is supposed to be a time of quiet meditation and renewal.
>
> how well do you think this flies in contemporary America?  NOT!

*g* I can see you having a few problems finding a sympathetic employer
;)

> everyone tries to work their own level of compromise and
> everyone makes different choices.  How well your particular
> religion jives with contemporary economic and social reality
> has a lot to do with what kind of acrobatics you might employ
> to make it all fit in a way that is personally tolerable.

I agree, and the [general] rigidity of organised religion is what I see
as causing all the problems. *sigh* Why can't we all just get along...

> btw when I lived in Nevada, 18 year olds were allowed to work
> in restaurants but they were not allowed to touch any
> alcoholic beverage containers.  They would have to find a
> co-worker 21+ with a special license to do so.  So maybe it's
> not all *that* odd.

Depends on the context. I have spent some time in the US, but *I* still
found things like this odd. Still, horses for courses and all that...

Regards

Chris Marsh





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