Cool, Clear Water
Kora Blagden says her 10-year-old son Luke came home from school complaining he was dehydrated. Even though it was a hot day, staff at Charles Dickens Primary School in Portsmouth, England, had told him not to drink from his water bottle lest he upset another student who was fasting for Ramadan. Headmaster Craig Duncan says no students were prevented from drinking water but they were warned to be respectful of classmates who could not.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Oliver beat you to it, Mike.
Are you sure Mike didn't post first, followed by the back-dated Brickbat? 🙂
I blame the NSA.
Headmaster Craig Duncan says no students were prevented from drinking water but they were warned to be respectful of classmates who could not.
If that doesn't mean "don't drink water because they can't", then what the fuck does it mean, exactly?
It's possible that the non-Muslim kid was taunting the Muslims by drinking his water in an exaggerated fashion. Sounds like something I would do as a kid. Kinda like when someone has to pee and you start talking about waterfalls.
Of course, there is nothing in the article to indicate that was the case. If it was, I'm pretty sure the Headmaster would have said so.
Ah, yes, that timeless question.
Is it religion, or just stupidity?
These things are not mutually exclusive...
Headmaster Craig Duncan says no students were prevented from drinking water but they were warned to be respectful of classmates who could not.
-----------------
He could. He chose not to. And that's bullshit anyway. I guarantee the other kid was told to wait until after class was over to get a drink. I know for a fact that they'll most often not allow you to drink during class in many English schools.
classmates who could not
Maybe he meant classmates who chose not to. They could drink water at any point.
The politically correct/Orwellian folks walking on eggshells around Islam is weird. I had a professor, who constantly talks about women's rights in class tell me the other day that we shouldn't mention the religion of the guy who beheaded the soldier on the streets of London. Yep, a history professor claimed the religion of the guy (who committed the act in the name of Allah and who was engaging in jihad) was not a factor.
If some maddened pastor had stabbed a Muslim to death in the streets, however, you can bet your ass and your whole fucking piggy bank that the assailant's religion would have been one of the primary subjects of discussion.
"Mmmmm...there's nothing like a refreshing glass of water to wash down my BLT sandwich...would you like some of my lunch, Yusuf? Oh, I forgot, your religion won't permit it...all right, then, I'll just have it all myself...."
Didn't someone in GB get into trouble for eating a bacon sandwich recently?
A quick Google search reveals this:
"Clive Hunt, 58, of Greater Manchester, England just landed his "dream ?1,000 a week" ($1,500) job as an Information Technology (IT) specialist for Great Britain's government run National Health Service (NHS).
"But upon sealing the deal with a handshake exchanged between he and the employment firm's recruiter, Sharika Sacranie, Hunt's off-the-cuff comment torpedoed his job before he even worked one day.
"Without giving a second thought if Sacranie may be Muslim, he offered to purchase bacon sandwiches after she offered to meet with all the new hires and take them all out to breakfast.
"That's when Hunt said the words he now regrets ever uttering, "I will buy the bacon sandwiches.""
http://www.examiner.com/articl.....sandwiches
"I will buy the bacon sandwiches" should lead to awarding medals to the person uttering it, or comething.
Bacon...mmmmmmm yummy.
Apparently now we can't even click through to links for Ramadan.
told him not to drink from his water bottle lest he upset another student who was fasting for Ramadan.
"Oh, and Luke, put your cap on during class, lest you upset another student who is wearing a yarmulke."
I was in Malaysia during Ramadan training some members of their military on some gear. We worked outside all day and I sure as shit drank water in front of them. You are paying me to train you and I'm thirsty.
I am not Muslim so they had no issue with me not adhering to their requirements. They were much more reasonable than Headasshole Duncan....
Actually, you're lucky they didn't lynch you.
Part of growing up is learning when to ridicule stupid beliefs. I sure as hell did it openly in class although in Georgia back then we had no Ramadan to pick on. The "Fish on Friday" thing really got no one excited but telling the Christian kids Jesus was never coming back had to suffice.
You're a fucking hero, shriek.
Free Minds and Free Markets!
It's not just a fucking motto.
Yes, "Free Minds" means being an obnoxious asshole with no tact.
Wow. I'm sure a lot of people listen to your rational arguments when you start the conversation off by insulting them.