Florida Teacher Fired for Stopping Muslim Students Praying

[NowISeetheLight]

Good grief! A Florida teacher said she "Believes in Jesus" and stopped Muslim students from Prayer saying they were doing "Magic". Apparently there was video of the incident that has gone viral on TikTok with over 800k views. She stepped over the students and actually stepped on one students hands during the incident.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/florida-teacher-fired-allegedly-disrupting-muslim-students-prayed-accu-rcna61006

A clip of the video can be seen on this news website.

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/pembroke-pines-teacher-fired-after-video-shows-praying-muslim-students-interrupted/2927071/

[tanyev]

1. Huh. Thought they wanted to get prayer back in the schools.

[NowISeetheLight]

2. Ah....

Yeah... WHITE CHRISTAIN HETEROSEXUAL JESUS LOVING PRAYER.... All others need not apply!

[uponit7771]

4. THIS !!!! ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾

[JI7]

37. She does for Christians as she says in the Video .

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Raising hand slowly...

Was this a public school? What are the rules about student led prayers in school? I know that Christians want to make it compulsory to pray to Jesus for all students, but I don't think we're there yet, are we?

[JenniferJuniper]

6. I believe student led prayer is fine,

and this was a charter school, so probably a public school.

[wnylib]

11. Students can choose to pray on their own, but

schools can't initiate, lead, or require prayer.

The article says that the kids asked two teachers if they could go into the room for privacy to pray. The teachers said yes. Then the other teacher walked in on them and objected.

[MOMFUDSKI]

5. A good teacher would have seen the beautiful opportunity

to teach about differences that abound in our melting pot Country. And that ALL are to be respected for who they are and what they believe and how they pray.

[Genki Hikari]

34. A good teacher would have

minded her own business and left them alone to do their thing.

[JI7]

38. No, a good teacher would have just kept to themself .

[Wounded Bear]

7. I'm sure Gov DeSatan will get her job back...

(or is it?)

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. I really don't want ANY prayer in public schools.

Plenty of places to pray, public schools should not be one of them. Why do we allow this? Our schools ought to be religion neutral where knowledge is the only point of public education. Want to get a religious education?....go to a private school.

And I say this as a product of 8 years of a Jesuit education. Now a practicing Agnostic.

[wnylib]

12. A couple of students praying by themselves in

an otherwise empty room is NOT "teaching religion."

I seriously doubt that the kids were trying to indoctrinate anyone or to make a public issue. They requested permission from two other teachers to go into the room for privacy to pray.

Muslims pray 5 times a day. It was no doubt prayer time for them and they sought space to do it quietly and privately.

[OAITW r.2.0]

15. Sorry. don't want anyone praying in a public school.

Last edited Sun Dec 11, 2022, 12:56 AM - Edit history (1)

Muslims can start a private school and pray as much as they like. Christians and Hindu's too. If Muslims have to pray 5 times during the course of their day....go offsite.

[wnylib]

16. Good grief! Are you going to install thought

police in classrooms since Christians and other religions can pray silently, without even folding their hands together? Expel kids suspected of prayer when they look serious and thoughtful in class?

Or would you just cancel the first amendment religion clause altogether?

I am firmly committed to separation of church and state. I am opposed to teachers or staff in public schools leading people in prayer or in reading religious literature. Any government funded institution should not ever impose religious practices on anyone.

But students do have a first amendment right to pray on their own IF they CHOOSE to, so long as they do not disrupt classes or use it to proselytize.

[OAITW r.2.0]

17. Nope, no praying in public school.

You obviously think it is necessary. I don't. Cultivating religion in public schools leads to problems. You want it, I don't.

[wnylib]

18. DO NOT put words into my mouth!

NOWHERE did I indicate that I think that prayer in school is necessary or that it should be cultivated in public schools. Since it is far removed from my views, it is not something that I would ever advocate. How dishonest of you to say otherwise.

People who follow a religion have just as much right to be free from authoritarian impositions against it as non religious people have a right to be free from religion being imposed on them.

RW religious zealots believe that "religious freedom" means the right to impose their faith on any one and everyone. But some people who personally oppose religion believe that they have the right to impose their own views on everyone. People DO have a right to be free FROM religion being imposed on them. But allowing students to pray, alone, by themselves, not sponsored by the school or required of anyone else to follow, is not by any stretch of the imagination imposing religion on non religious people.

I went to public schools from K-12. When I was in junior and senior high, the cafeteria in each school offered a choice of fish or meat on Fridays because Catholics could not eat meat on Fridays then. I was not Catholic, but had no problem about the school being accommodating to those who were. Didn't hurt me a bit to see Catholic students eating fish while I had Swiss steak or meatloaf. Occasionally I chose fish simply because my family didn't eat fish much except for tuna salad sandwiches. Nobody told the Catholic kids to wash off their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, either.

A Jehovah's Witness kid in school refused to do the pledge of allegiance for religious reasons. Nobody forced her to or made an issue of it.

We just considered it being considerate of pluralism in a pluralistic society. As long as the school was not forcing religious practices, prayers, or religious readings on others we felt free to be ourselves.

Neither of us will persuade the other, so I see no point in wasting any more time on this. Just don't falsely put words in my mouth.

Have a nice day.

[OAITW r.2.0]

19. OK!

"But allowing students to pray, alone, by themselves, not sponsored by the school or required of anyone else to follow, is not by any stretch of the imagination imposing religion on non religious people."

Sure, they can pray where ever they want...not just in public schools. How hard is is that for you to understand? I don't want to see classrooms become private private religious places.

[wnylib]

20. I understand perfectly that kids have religious rights, even

in a public school, so long as they are not imposing religion on others and the school is not imposing it on any one.

There are religious people in the world. Get over it.

[OAITW r.2.0]

22. I disagree.

Kids have no rights to religion in a public school. The school is for learning, not dogma. You get over it.

[electric_blue68]

24. They're not forcing it on anyone else. What if you "caught" several kids praying I a stairwell...

you're going to stop them?

[OAITW r.2.0]

26. Hmmm....interesting.

What religion? Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Satanism? I'd hope the school admins would make sure that none of these "religious" moments are acceptable. Because, when you allow praying of any kind in the stairwell, you are influencing children in this action. So, no, that's that is not the province of public schools. We allow freedom of religion in this country for people to pray where ever they want, except not in public institutions.

[electric_blue68]

28. They'd have to pick a stairwell hardly anyone uses, or some unused area not in a staiwell...

any Religion.

[OAITW r.2.0]

30. Sure....

then they can claim persecution for their beliefs, because they are banished into an area that hardly anyone uses. How about not allowing any practice of religion in public schools? As a parent, I'd support that.

[Seeking Serenity]

32. I agree with you

Expel the noncompliant. They'll have plenty of time to pray sitting on their asses at home, while their peers will be learning skills that will put them on the road to success, a road the nutters chose to exit because of their belief in a nonexistent right to religion in public schools.

[OAITW r.2.0]

33. Thanks...I was feeling lonely on this thread.

Seriously, why do public schools have to be made a battleground for religious freedom? I support it in everyplace, except public institutions.

[electric_blue68]

41. Not everyone thinks like that. I think it's allowable with those who privately want to without any

coercion of others.

We disagree w each other, and that's that.

[JI7]

39. People can Pray on their own time but it should not be organized and using school time and resources

which is set aside for teaching .

[tritsofme]

43. Thankfully the First Amendment protects these children from folks like you.

[republianmushroom]

9. Power freaks, darn we sure have enough of them

[grantcart]

10. Muslims also believe in Jesus, ain't that something.

[wnylib]

13. Yeah, but only as a prophet, not as Allah himself.

So the self-proclaimed Christian teacher got into a hissy fit.

[Mosby]

23. Christians believe Jesus is the messiah.

Muslims don't think that, which is what makes this sentence so odd:

Much like Christians, Muslims believe in Jesus as well.

Pretty sloppy writing by NBC.

[wnylib]

42. Well, I wouldn't have said "believe in" because

the beliefs are different. To Jews, the expected messiah is a human being. To Christians, Jesus the Messiah is God incarnate. To Muslims, Jesus was a great human prophet, not Allah.

[malaise]

14. Because religious freedom means

My religion only - get it!
I hate these people.

[In It to Win It]

21. I saw the video couple days ago. Not a very good look for my county

[keithbvadu2]

25. What if it was the wrong sect/version of Christianity?

[kacekwl]

27. Why in gods name (pun intended) can't kids, adults

Christians, Muslims, Jews etc. pray in silence to the god of their choice ? Is this prayer or is it Showtime ? Who are they trying to please ?

[Coventina]

29. The obligatory prayers that Muslims are required to do are

very active and require standing, bowing, and kneeling.

It's not something you can be discreet about.

[Mosby]

31. Why not have prayer/meditation rooms in school?

More and more workplaces have them.

[OAITW r.2.0]

35. Because, taxpayers support public schools that teach science.

Not religious dogma. We don't want madrassas for our kids. We want science based education. If your kids need to pray, send them to a prayer based school.

[Seeking Serenity]

36. Absolutely not!

Fairytale "religions" have ZERO place in public places, especially public schools where impressionable children have to see it.

[JI7]

40. No, we have separation of church and state . Is it so difficult for those who want to pray to do it

on their own during lunch periods and other free time ?

[intheflow]

44. I like this idea.

No child is forced to pray and the ones who want/need to have a dedicated quiet space to do their thing. That’s not state-sponsored religion because the room would accommodate all beliefs. The biggest problem I see is that some white nationalist students would commandeer it as a place to bully religious minorities.

[JI7]

45. There are many religions and beliefs and different ways of practicing religion

setting side one room will cause problems .

If people can't do whatever religious thing they want to do on their own without needing special space then they should just wait until school is over or go to a different school.

[intheflow]

46. That is absolutely not true.

Different religions pray in different ways. Some prayers are vocal and require movement. To claim otherwise is both religiously ignorant and intolerant. It’s based solely on US-centered experiences with compulsory Christian prayers that Madalyn Murray O'Hair fought against. A voluntary prayer room is not the same thing at all.

Signed,
An Atheist with a Masters of Divinity

[JI7]

47. My point is that a voluntary prayer room will cause conflict between different groups

There will be people complaining about these people being too loud or some other shit .

[NowISeetheLight]

48. Conflict The Crusades....

Coming to a public school near you!