On Monday, PJ Media posted an article about some planned remodeling in a Minneapolis schools.
The article reports:
A school district in the Minneapolis suburbs is remodeling two high schools to fit “student needs,” by which it means adding a prayer room and foot-washing facilities specifically for Muslims.
Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin posted on X April 20 the following screenshots regarding plans for a specifically configured “prayer room” as part of Park Center Senior High’s remodel and “footwash[s]” as part of Osseo Senior High School’s remodel. Osseo Schools in Minnesota confirmed the updates and claimed they were “included in updated plans after hearing from user groups on student needs.”
The person who sent in the tip to Collin noted that this prayer room is not a response to Christian or Jewish complaints and requirements, nor is the footwash purely for hygienic reasons. “This is undoubtedly for Muslim students only. I cannot understand how this can be happening in this era of no religion in schools,” the tipster argued.
By the way, this does not appear to be an original inspiration of Osseo Schools. Show host Glenn Beck reported last year that some Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., schools had Muslim prayer rooms in them.
The article notes:
As an important note, the Founding Fathers never intended to exclude religion from the public square or government institutions, and indeed the phrase “separation of church and state” never occurs in our founding documents. Indeed, many of the founders, including John Adams, George Washington, and John Jay, emphasized the importance of religion in the public square. It was also normal and accepted for legislatures and public schools across America to have prayers incorporated into their regular scheduled duties and exercises. But America was founded specifically to be a Judeo-Christian nation, and it is also true that the Founders were opposed to making one religion essentially the state religion or official religion of a particular institution or government entity. Yet that is exactly what is happening at the Minneapolis high schools.
If the school is also willing to put in prayer rooms for Jews and Christians, I am okay with this. Otherwise, the school is using tax dollars to promote a specific religion, which is unconstitutional.