Dearborn school district now offering students 100% Halal menu

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whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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The halal meat is not reserved for only Muslims. For those who want to eat the meat and aren't Muslims, have at it.....you won't be harmed either way. Congrats!

Bacon: no, they should be steadfastly serving bacon to all students no matter what, because a school district wasting money is important in the fight for separation of Islam and state. It's the fiscally responsible and morally just thing to do.
While I can see the sarcasm here, I'm afraid the OP may not and will start ranting about how public schools in Dearborn are not allowing their students to consume bacon and other pork meats for lunch. :rolleyes:
 
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ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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While I can see the sarcasm here, I'm afraid the OP may not and will start ranting about how public schools in Dearborn are not allowing their students to consume bacon and other pork meats for lunch. :rolleyes:

That may be, I'm not tasked with fixing ignorance.
 

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
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And I'm quite willing to wager that if the word Kosher had been substituted for Halal in the original raging rant by the OP, there would never have been a raging rant by the OP. Just sayin'......
And if a school principal were to lead the student body in a voluntary prayer before lunch to give thanks for the food, I am sure there would be an abundance of raging concern.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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And if a school principal were to lead the student body in a voluntary prayer before lunch to give thanks for the food, I am sure there would be an abundance of raging concern.

I would not be OK with that from ANY religion. @Meghan54 has a valid point, as the OP's rhetoric has been heard, and used before. Which you chose not to address, but talk about something different.
 

Starbuck1975

Lifer
Jan 6, 2005
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I would not be OK with that from ANY religion. @Meghan54 has a valid point, as the OP's rhetoric has been heard, and used before. Which you chose not to address, but talk about something different.
What is the distinction? Halal and kosher preparation essentially blesses the food prior to cooking. Prayer essentially blesses the food after presentation. Both are religious accomodations.

I would be ok with schools serving hahal and kosher food, with all the kids giving thanks prior to eating.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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There is equality here. No matter if it's halal, kosher or whatever, it will be unrecognizable as food when the kitchen staff is done with it.
I don't know where you went to school at but the schools I went to every meal was recognizable as food. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 

brycejones

Lifer
Oct 18, 2005
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There is equality here. No matter if it's halal, kosher or whatever, it will be unrecognizable as food when the kitchen staff is done with it.
My kids actually believe the food has improved dramatically this year from last year when it was just processed crap.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
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My kids actually believe the food has improved dramatically this year from last year when it was just processed crap.

That's good. I'm older than a good many here and at least back then inner-city lunches smelled and tasted funky, so I ate PBJ for four straight years because of it and wasn't alone in passing on prepped stuff. I now can't stand PBJ.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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What is the distinction? Halal and kosher preparation essentially blesses the food prior to cooking. Prayer essentially blesses the food after presentation. Both are religious accomodations.

I would be ok with schools serving hahal and kosher food, with all the kids giving thanks prior to eating.

This is already the situation that exists. Plenty of schools have time set aside during the day for voluntary prayer if kids decide to engage in it.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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"Eating meat killed in a ritualistic manner (Kutha meat): Sikhs are strictly prohibited from eating meat killed in a ritualistic manner (such as halal or kosher, known as Kutha meat[8] ), or any meat where langar is served.[9] For many Sikhs (and in some small Sikh sects, e.g. Akhand Kirtani Jatha) eating any meat is believed to be forbidden, but this is not a universally held belief.[10] The meat eaten by Sikhs is known as Jhatka meat."


Christ, how many ways you can worship a cow before killing it? All of this shit seems silly - and seeing it in a public school is honestly ridiculous.

I can't say it's a big deal overall - but I just don't care to see religious shit in a place of education... The two are basically opposites. If you want your meat a certain way, go to a religious school.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
38,199
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What is the distinction? Halal and kosher preparation essentially blesses the food prior to cooking. Prayer essentially blesses the food after presentation. Both are religious accomodations.

I would be ok with schools serving hahal and kosher food, with all the kids giving thanks prior to eating.

The distinction has already been presented.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
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This thread reminds me of my first exposure to anti-semitic literature when I was a child. A little rag called "Spotlight" that my father had laying around because he was studying anti-semitism. The article I read was pointing out all the food products with the labels "K" or "U" on them, that this meant some Jew somewhere was being paid to bless this product. And some of these products are provided to people under public assistance like food stamps. Meaning that we the tax payers are paying for these Jews to bless our chow. How dare they.

That was the exact argument I read back then (late 70's) about Jews. Now compare and contrast. Or should I just say compare.

Not to be confused with Searchlight

Two very different kinds of light.

Though AFA/Antifa doesn't like either of them.


I don't know where you went to school at but the schools I went to every meal was recognizable as food. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Personally I still shudder at the memory of being ordered to eat reconstituted-from-powder mashed potato. But I am sure the quality of that stuff varies greatly by time and place. Actually, the very fact they are paying attention to religious requirements suggests maybe they put more effort into the food than is typical. But not necessarily.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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Christ, how many ways you can worship a cow before killing it? All of this shit seems silly - and seeing it in a public school is honestly ridiculous.

I can't say it's a big deal overall - but I just don't care to see religious shit in a place of education... The two are basically opposites. If you want your meat a certain way, go to a religious school.

I feel like this is the sort of common sense idea that gets lost when Islam is involved. According to the article some of the schools in Dearborn are 90%+ Muslim students. If almost all of your students have the same dietary restriction it is common sense to plan your meal purchases around that restriction.

It’s not an endorsement of religion to buy food the kids will eat.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
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I feel like this is the sort of common sense idea that gets lost when Islam is involved. According to the article some of the schools in Dearborn are 90%+ Muslim students. If almost all of your students have the same dietary restriction it is common sense to plan your meal purchases around that restriction.

It’s not an endorsement of religion to buy food the kids will eat.

I really don't have a dog in the fight, but at what point does a minority like the Sikhs lose their rights and we're OK with it? Americans seem to be for minorities when they are majorities as well and I question why that is.
 
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pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
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I really don't have a dog in the fight, but at what point does a minority like the Sikhs lose their rights and we're OK with it? Americans seem to be for minorities when they are majorities as well and I question why that is.


It hasn't been established that there _are_ any Sikhs in those schools or even in the area that might attend those schools. So it could very well be a non-issue (I suspect it is, but can't know for sure).

Ultimately, though, surely the reality is that 'rights' apply to those with the power to demand them _and_ also the strength-of-feeling to care to do so? It's a fiction that 'rights' are inalienable and 'natural' - they usually need to be fought for. It's not a 'right' if you don't actually care enough to demand it and cause trouble for those that would deny it.

The more difficult issue, for me when this issue arose here (in schools in areas with a lower proportion of Muslims than Dearborn), is how seriously to take objections from those of a Christian heritage. How much is that a genuinely deeply-held identity-based objection to eating food blessed by another religion, and how much is it motivated by an essentially political agenda? Especially when you are talking about people who don't really pay much more than lipservice to religion anyway, and are functionally non-believers. And should political ideology be treated differently from religion anyway?

Same thing applies in cases where certain Muslims have demanded ever-more 'modest' dress codes for schoolgirls, even when compared to what other Muslims are happy with. Is that religon or politics?
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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I really don't have a dog in the fight, but at what point does a minority like the Sikhs lose their rights and we're OK with it? Americans seem to be for minorities when they are majorities as well and I question why that is.

Is there any evidence that a single solitary Sikh is being harmed by this policy?

The easy answer to that is the same answer we use everywhere else, to provide accommodation for that handful of students where the regular arrangements don’t work. For example when you go on a flight you can request a kosher meal. Meals aren’t kosher by default because the vast majority of people don’t require it. On Israel’s national airline they ARE kosher by default because that’s who the audience is.

Nobody is saying that Sikh kids, if they even exist there, shouldn’t have the school provide them food they can eat, just that the district is making a completely common sense decision to align their food purchasing with their student body.
 

HomerJS

Lifer
Feb 6, 2002
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The main problem I have with halal meat is that it is not fair to people of other faiths
halal meat requires that certain mumbo reglious words be uttered before animal is killed and that the person who does it has to be Muslim. This means right away job opportunities are taken away from people of other faiths. This is extremely discriminatory
Hate that religious free-dumb thing all of a sudden?? Could it be that Moooslim thing?
 
Feb 4, 2009
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What about separation of church and state?

Would you feel the same way if it was required to say a Christian Blessing before eating?

That’s where it gets tricky because kosher or halal just require basic rules for handling. These basic rules tend to be followed in our modern times because it’s basic hygiene type stuff with some simple respect to the animal.
Most is handled before the food is prepped. No prayer required, if there comes a point where prayer is required while inside the school that’s totally different. I’m not talking about a kid who has a moment of silence or whatever, I’m talking about a teacher leading all the kids.
Also there could be problems in the future if the atheist mix of employees gets messy.