Muslim woman cites gym after interrupted prayer

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2sisters

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I am not touching this one.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/LIFESTYLE04/612050368
DEARBORN -- Fitness USA, a gym chain, is investigating an alleged civil rights violation involving a local Muslim woman who says her afternoon prayer was interrupted by a fellow patron, and that her complaint to management about the situation was rejected.

"The manager told me, 'You have to respect her (the patron), but she does not have to respect your God,' " said Wardeh Sultan of Dearborn. "I've had my membership for seven or eight years, and I've never had a problem with praying there.
 
2sisters said:
I am not touching this one.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061205/LIFESTYLE04/612050368
DEARBORN -- Fitness USA, a gym chain, is investigating an alleged civil rights violation involving a local Muslim woman who says her afternoon prayer was interrupted by a fellow patron, and that her complaint to management about the situation was rejected.

"The manager told me, 'You have to respect her (the patron), but she does not have to respect your God,'?" said Wardeh Sultan of Dearborn. "I've had my membership for seven or eight years, and I've never had a problem with praying there.

Even by reading the linked story i've missed what has happened to upset this lady?

is she not free to pray if she wishes? or is she damanding everyone stop their workout while she does it? what?
 
This is ridiculous.

It's a gym!!

If she wants to pray, all well and good but why do it when you are at a gym, you are there for exercise not to pray!
Why doesn't she pray at home...or before she goes to the gym?
 
Floh said:
Even by reading the linked story i've missed what has happened to upset this lady?

is she not free to pray if she wishes? or is she damanding everyone stop their workout while she does it? what?
I don't know either, I am waiting to see how everyone else interprets it but I got the same thing you got from it.
 
The article was vague. Does this woman go to the gym to exercise or does she go to the gym to pray? Why didn't she go to a quiet place to pray? Gyms are not quiet, in my experience.
 
Muslim prayer is a bit different than Christian prayer, and there are specific times of day in which prayers need to be said, so if she was at the gym at prayer time she would have to stop and worship. That being said, youd think that if there were a problem with interruptions, she should schedule her gym time around prayer time. I will say however that if the gym manager really did tell her that no one had to respect her god, that was inappropriate, so even if there was no civil rights violation orriginally, there's a discriminatory one now.
 
I'm not sure what upset her either--but it's wrong for the manager to make that follow-up statement to her after she complained, IF he actually said that--But this looks like more whining by the Muslims--If they feel they have to pray five times a day in public,they have to expect a little flak now and then--This is a Christian country, not a Muslim one---I can just imagine us Christians in Pakistan or Iraq or Saudi Arabia walking around with a big cross and praying to our God 5 times a day in public over there--think the result would be more than just a little flak
 
Ok...I'm going to say it.....I think that, as of late, people like her ( JUST TO BE CLEAR...I don't mean Muslims, I mean trifling people in general) just do things like this to push the envelope so that they can b*tch about discrimination later.

WHY would anyone pray in a gym....and WHY would anyone be so arrogant to think the world must stop revolving so they can do as they wish? :hand:

What's it gonna be next..."the USA only likes white Christians" BS? So tired of all of that.....
 
I did a little research and it sounds like there may have been an undertow of riff in that particular chain of gyms stemming from a decision made in October (it is mentioned in the above article). Apparantly a Muslim woman demanded a seperate, private work out area for women because in their culture, it goes against the religion for a man to see a woman dressed in workout clothing. She started a petition and won and from what I read, it was a fairly unpopular decision.
 
Peter Hamilton said:
I'm not sure what upset her either--but it's wrong for the manager to make that follow-up statement to her after she complained, IF he actually said that--But this looks like more whining by the Muslims--If they feel they have to pray five times a day in public,they have to expect a little flak now and then--This is a Christian country, not a Muslim one---I can just imagine us Christians in Pakistan or Iraq or Saudi Arabia walking around with a big cross and praying to our God 5 times a day in public over there--think the result would be more than just a little flak

To my ear, the supposed statement of the manager sounds like an after-the-fact paraphrase. If he said it, he was rude. But I'm not at all convinced that even the comment makes the event actionable.

Since when do we have a constitutional right to public prayer? On somebody else's private property?
 
californiacarrie said:
I did a little research and it sounds like there may have been an undertow of riff in that particular chain of gyms stemming from a decision made in October (it is mentioned in the above article). Apparantly a Muslim woman demanded a seperate, private work out area for women because in their culture, it goes against the religion for a man to see a woman dressed in workout clothing. She started a petition and won and from what I read, it was a fairly unpopular decision.
i would suggest for this woman ( I am not bing snippy, ugly, or discriminatory here) to open a gym for muslin women or for women in general. she could make alot of money doing that. we have a womens only gym here and a lot of women prefer it to the "meat market" coed gyms. or just find a womens gym. I just don't see where everything has to stop and revolve around her prayer time. don't go during prayer time.
 
Nova said:
To my ear, the supposed statement of the manager sounds like an after-the-fact paraphrase. If he said it, he was rude. But I'm not at all convinced that even the comment makes the event actionable.

Since when do we have a constitutional right to public prayer? On somebody else's private property?
I quite frankly don't want to be bombarded with everyone elses religion. I think it is best to keep it at home or in the church.
 
2sisters said:
i would suggest for this woman ( I am not bing snippy, ugly, or discriminatory here) to open a gym for muslin women or for women in general...
That's what I was thinking. I just don't see why any business should have to accommodate customers. Customers have a choice and don't have to patronage any business that doesn't meet their needs or that they don't like.
 
californiacarrie said:
I did a little research and it sounds like there may have been an undertow of riff in that particular chain of gyms stemming from a decision made in October (it is mentioned in the above article). Apparantly a Muslim woman demanded a seperate, private work out area for women because in their culture, it goes against the religion for a man to see a woman dressed in workout clothing. She started a petition and won and from what I read, it was a fairly unpopular decision.

Why don't they open their own gym just for women??

I don't think that's fair, they shouldn't be at a gym where males go if they are so offended by them.
Same as the praying, I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous- work out when you have to pray and plan your day accordingly...
 
2sisters said:
I quite frankly don't want to be bombarded with everyone elses religion. I think it is best to keep it at home or in the church.

Well, whether or not we like, the doctrine of free speech allows people to pray. But that's not the same as requiring that anybody else change his behavior to accommodate that prayer.
 
narlacat said:
Why don't they open their own gym just for women??

I don't think that's fair, they shouldn't be at a gym where males go if they are so offended by them.
Same as the praying, I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous- work out when you have to pray and plan your day accordingly...

Amen. And women's gyms already exist.

I know we want to accommodate the desires of minorities when possible, but come on!
 
narlacat said:
Why don't they open their own gym just for women??

I don't think that's fair, they shouldn't be at a gym where males go if they are so offended by them.
Same as the praying, I'm sorry but that's just ridiculous- work out when you have to pray and plan your day accordingly...
.
That makes sense... but doesnt draw enough attention.
 
OMG, I can't believe the attitude of some people......

Everyone is free to practice their own religion in the USA.

This women prays 5 times a day.

So she was praying at the gym and another person decided to bully her, humiliate her, degrade her and interupt her.

Then she takes it to management, and he tells her that she has to repect others, but they don't have to respect her.

Let's reverse the situation. A person is Christian, they are praying, be it in a Gym or whereever. So a Jewish person interupts them, humiliates them, degrades them and interupts them.

Then the Christian goes to Management with his/her complaint, then he.she tells them well it is O.K. for them to do that to you, but you have to respect the Torah, but they do not have to respect the Bible.

How woud a Christian feel....it is called respect for the diversity of the USA and all of the different religions.
 
CyberLaw said:
OMG, I can't believe the attitude of some people......

Everyone is free to practice their own religion in the USA.

This women prays 5 times a day.

So she was praying at the gym and another person decided to bully her, humiliate her, degrade her and interrupt her.

Then she takes it to management, and he tells her that she has to repect others, but they don't have to respect her.

Let's reverse the situation. A person is Christian, they are praying, be it in a Gym or whereever. So a Jewish person interupts them, humiliates them, degrades them and interupts them.

Then the Christian goes to Management with his/her complaint, then he.she tells them well it is O.K. for them to do that to you, but you have to respect the Torah, but they do not have to respect the Bible.

How woud a Christian feel....it is called respect for the diversity of the USA and all of the different religions.
Where in the article did it state that??
 
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