Duke cancels call to prayer

[Desdinova]

Yet another exhibit on the divisiveness of religion.  Imagine there's no heaven, and none of this shit ever happens!

The director of the Islamic Studies Center at Duke University, which canceled plans to broadcast a weekly call to Muslim prayers from its famed chapel amid intense controversy and threats, said Friday that he was "sick to my stomach" and disappointed by the episode..

"I am disappointed, because I’d like to think we are better than this...better than being intimidated and pressured, '' Omid Safi, director of the program, said in an email to the Los Angeles Times.

Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said Thursday the university's plan to promote religious pluralism by announcing the chant, known as the adhan, from a "moderately amplified" chapel loudspeaker was canceled after numerous hateful messages were sent online and by phone.

We received serious and credible concerns about safety and security, and have taken steps to address them,'' Schoenfeld said Friday.

He added: "The level of vitriol in calls and messages from those who have no connection to Duke was intense, and even horrifying.''

Muslim students and others plan to gather Friday afternoon outside the chapel, where interfaith programs are typically held, and then move to their regular location in the chapel basement for prayers.

After canceling the call to prayer Thursday, Schoenfeld said that “Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students.... However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect.”

Those plans had drawn the ire of North Carolina evangelist Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, who took to Facebook to denounce the school for embracing Islam at a time when Muslim extremists are attacking the West.

“As Christianity is being excluded from the public square and followers of Islam are raping, butchering and beheading Christians, Jews and anyone who doesn’t submit to their Sharia Islamic law, Duke is promoting this in the name of religious pluralism,” Graham wrote on his Facebook page.

News of the call to prayer prompted dozens of comments on Duke’s Facebook page. Many were barbed, and few were in favor of the move. Some examples:

“Ooooh what’s next? Burka Fridays? Sharia Saturdays? Stone an infidel Mondays?”

“Is this really what you want your university, in a Christian-founded country, to be known for?”

“Goodbye Duke. My company’s yearly endowment will no longer be sent.”

Christy Lohr Sapp, associate dean for religious life at Duke University Chapel, wrote in an op-ed in the News and Observer of Raleigh on Wednesday: “At Duke University, the Muslim community represents a strikingly different face of Islam than is seen on the nightly news: one that is peaceful and prayerful.”

Sapp wrote that the chapel is “a symbol of faith of the school’s founders, but the use of it as a minaret allows for the interreligious re-imagining of a university icon.”

While this might seem “an odd juxtaposition,” Sapp wrote, “it is actually in keeping with the university’s commitment to fostering the spiritual development of all students.”

About 700 of Duke’s 14,850 students identify themselves as Muslims, according to the university. The school hired its first full-time Muslim chaplain in 2009, when it created a Center for Muslim Life.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-duke-muslim-prayer-controversy-20150116-story.html

[Solitary]

All this nonsense from thousands of years old scripts based on no reliable evidence. When is religion going to be called what it is---mental illness---from one extreme to the other. They're "nice" to being "barbaric," usually for the same reason: ignorance  parading as knowledge."  Solitary

[Hydra009]

I don't really see how Muslim students doing muslim prayers at the same spot where other religious groups do their own prayers constituents "the school embracing Islam" as Franklin Graham apparently thinks.

Sapp wrote that the chapel is “a symbol of faith of the school’s founders, but the use of it as a minaret allows for the interreligious re-imagining of a university icon.”

Considering that it has Robert E. Lee carved into it, it's fair to say that lots of things have changed since it was first built.

And besides, it has apparently used for Hindu and Buddhist services with no problems, so this argument is complete bullshit.

[Solitary]

"a symbol of faith" Says it all. Faith: a belief with no reliable evidence to support it, only tradition. 

[Desdinova]

Yes it's all utter bullshit.  Why can't people just see it for what it is?  We created all this nonsense to control and exploit people's fear of death.  That's what it all fucking boils down to.  It makes me mad as hell!  And I could say I'm not going to take it anymore, but we all know that's a fucking lie!  I'll bend over and take it like everyone else does.  Because really, what the fuck can we do?  I've been feeling grumpy lately.