Post by St. Louis Gael on Apr 1, 2011 13:43:15 GMT -5
I just returned home from what was for me a "shocking" experience at a WalMart here in St. Louis.
I stopped off to pick up a few vittles, including a six-pack of Guinness. When I got to the check-out line, I was informed by the checker that I was a non-alcohol line. Being the co-operative and compliant Iona alum that I am, I said OK, and moved to another line. However, I am thinking this is strange - "I have not seen this before". So I asked the checker why it is a non alcohol line. "It is against my religion." SLG went off went off with a big, "WHAT!"
You guys have seen enough of my posts to know that Mr Doom and others look for me over their left shoulder. However, this one puzzles me - the imposition of religious belief on the marketplace.
Accommodate the employee by having them stock cans of beans, instead of imposing upon your customer. By the way, I did give a manager an ear-full.
SLG, Welcome to the new Politically Correct Muslim America - formerly known as The United States of America. It is sad what has happened under the "watchful eyes" of our politicians - and I am not only speaking of the present occupant of the White House. Our Constitution, and with it the liberties enshrined there in, is being stepped on and violated by politicians (Republican and Democrat alike) every day so that those politicians may stay in control. The geniuses we call The Founding Fathers warned of this - they would be ashamed of what has happened to that for which they pledged their fortunes, their lives and their sacred honor!
Post by St. Louis Gael on Apr 1, 2011 14:38:45 GMT -5
Mr. Doom, I do agree with you that something has gone awry with this thinking, and it may only be the thinking of a local Walmart manager.
I do believe in making reasonable accommodation for a variety of reasons. As I mentioned in the earlier post, there are any number of ways this person could have been accommodated. What WalMart decided was not an accommodation, but an imposition of this person's religious belief on the customer - in this case, me. What if the checker in my new line said; "I'm Jewish, this is a non-pork line".
Personally, I think this person's inability to reconcile her religious belief with the marketplace disqualified her as a Walmart Checker.
Political correctness is properly the butt of jokes but still it rolls on. It can never be correct enough, you can't win, and when you try hard to be "nice" your reward is to be seen as a stupid, weak, reality-challenged fool by the manipulators whom you try to please. If The Prophet drank Guinness it would be a better world.
As a fellow leftist, what were you doing in Walmart SLG? You should be ashamed of yourself - Seriouosly, the problem is that when these things happen it becomes fodder for right-wingers to blame on the politically correct lefties. This is an issue with Walmart. There is no law that states they have to make this kind of accomadation - in fact as you state SLG they could have accommodated this person in a number of ways. By the way, this could have been a Mormon or any number of other religions that do not allow there followers to handle Alcohol, this is not strictkly a Muslim issue. I also don't think it would have been a problem had the lane been clearly marked "No Alcohol" and there were other lanes available for alcoholic purchases. It is very common to see underage checkout people at supermarkets who are also not able to accomodate Alcohol purchases. In those cases they a supervisor comes over to complete the purchase, not sure why they couldn't do the same at Walmart. Bottom line to me is yea, it was an inconvemiece. Is it a bit over the line on political correctness? Maybe, but to me it's a small price to pay when you are trying to build a more inclusive society.
As a fellow leftist, what were you doing in Walmart SLG? You should be ashamed of yourself - Seriouosly, the problem is that when these things happen it becomes fodder for right-wingers to blame on the politically correct lefties. This is an issue with Walmart. There is no law that states they have to make this kind of accomadation - in fact as you state SLG they could have accommodated this person in a number of ways. By the way, this could have been a Mormon or any number of other religions that do not allow there followers to handle Alcohol, this is not strictkly a Muslim issue. I also don't think it would have been a problem had the lane been clearly marked "No Alcohol" and there were other lanes available for alcoholic purchases. It is very common to see underage checkout people at supermarkets who are also not able to accomodate Alcohol purchases. In those cases they a supervisor comes over to complete the purchase, not sure why they couldn't do the same at Walmart. Bottom line to me is yea, it was an inconvemiece. Is it a bit over the line on political correctness? Maybe, but to me it's a small price to pay when you are trying to build a more inclusive society.
Price! The Guinness was on sale.
While I may be to the left of many here, I am also a Capitalist. And I see no contradiction in the two.
AS I have worked my way through this, what fries my ass is the imposition of religious tenets on the market-place. I would take equal offense if a Jew refused to check my bacon (sic), or a Catholic refused my condoms. Forget the last one - don't need them any more.
I find it ironic that at WalMart, I can buy sufficient ammunition to take out a member of congress and six other people without a question. However, I can not buy a copy of Playboy; and I may not be able to buy Guinness.
Was the lane clearly marked "no alcohol, tobacco, pork, bibles, American flags" or was there no way of knowing until you reached the front of the line?
I don't see why the clerk could not have been assigned duties that allow him/her to avoid handling alcohol, without inconviencing customers. Also, why couldn't the Muslim simply ask you to scan the item, or ask a co-worker to quickly come over and do it?
IMHO, the clerk is a hypocrite. He/she should either refuse to work in a store that sells booze, or should ring it up like any other item. Would a devout Christian think it was okay to be the receptionist at a brothel? If alcohol is so evil that one cannot touch the can or bottle, or ring it up, one should have no association with a business that distributes it.
It seems that Muslims demand extraordinary degrees of "tolerance" from others, while almost never showing any towards non-Muslims.
Ultimately, it should be up to the store owners to decide how much accomodation to make for the relgious beliefs of employees, the employee's decision whehter or not to accept a job with the level of accomodation granted, and the consumer's choice whether to put up with whatever inconvenience or insult this may cause.
Next time you go to Walmart, why not buy a few "clean" items and bring them to that cashier. After you complete the transaction, politely inform the clerk that the bills and coins you handed him/her were rubbed in a mixture of whiskey and bacon fat?
Next time go to the Muslims line and see if you can buy bullets. That might be a good time to point out the hypocrisy.
I'm not sure I understand the hypocrisy. Many people approve of bullets, but not booze, or booze, but not bullets, or approve or disapprove of both booze and bullets.
Only a tiny, tiny percentage of the ammuntion sold at Walmart or anywhere else, ever harms anyone. I don't know for sure, but I'd imagine the alcohol probably causes more harm, though it is still should not be illegal to sell it.
"It seems that Muslims demand extraordinary degrees of "tolerance" from others, while almost never showing any towards non-Muslims."
Uhh... A majority of Muslims, particularly in this country show a great degree of tolerance under a pervasive atmosphere of racism. I can understand SLG being upset about what happened in the store. To say that Muslims never show tolerance to non-Muslims is just racist.
"It seems that Muslims demand extraordinary degrees of "tolerance" from others, while almost never showing any towards non-Muslims."
Uhh... A majority of Muslims, particularly in this country show a great degree of tolerance under a pervasive atmosphere of racism. I can understand SLG being upset about what happened in the store. To say that Muslims never show tolerance to non-Muslims is just racist.
When in power, Muslims have almost without exception, brutally persecuted non-muslims. This started with Mohammed and has continued for about 1400 years.
Islam is not a race. It is a brutal, primitive, religion based ideology of hate that seeks to conquer the world. Always has been, always will be. Tolerant Muslims are either pretending to be tolerant until they have the power to oppress (as Islamic doctrine has always taught them to do) or not real Muslims. A Muslim who is genuinely tolerant of other faiths is no more a Muslim than one who denies the resurrection of Christ is a real Christian.
Why is it that some (I emphasize SOME as in not all) from the leftist/socialist side of the political spectrum can be counted on to resort to what seems to be their trump card in any and all discussions? They pull out, what appears to be their answer to all disputes - the smear of RACISM! Weren't we all told that we were now in a post-racial America? To say, as someone here has said, that Muslim's in this nation live "under a pervasive atmosphere of racism" is a disgusting attempt at smearing the overwhelming number of good, honest, moral God fearing and God loving Americans of all faiths! This nation is not perfect since human beings are not perfect. To call America and Americans as a society pervasively racist is a disgusting smear which I reject and to which I take offense! Those who resort to such smear tactics to bolster their positions are cowards who are not worthy of my time or effort! GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
- Seriouosly, the problem is that when these things happen it becomes fodder for right-wingers to blame on the politically correct lefties. This is an issue with Walmart. There is no law that states they have to make this kind of accomadation - in fact as you state SLG they could have accommodated this person in a number of ways. By the way, this could have been a Mormon or any number of other religions that do not allow there followers to handle Alcohol, this is not strictkly a Muslim issue. I also don't think it would have been a problem had the lane been clearly marked "No Alcohol" and there were other lanes available for alcoholic purchases. It is very common to see underage checkout people at supermarkets who are also not able to accomodate Alcohol purchases. In those cases they a supervisor comes over to complete the purchase, not sure why they couldn't do the same at Walmart. 
