I don't think it has anything to do with the airport because if someone or a group of people report activity that causes them alarm, the airport has to investigate. It has to do with the other passengers that were uncomfortable. These people need to be more tolerant and not freak out about a Muslim being Muslim. Everyone has to give in a little which is exactly what I said. It is as if common sense doesn't exist anymore. If you do something that you know is going to make someone uncomfortable, respect that. If someone is doing something that is making you uncomfortable, chill out.
I'm steering a middle course on this that the imams, and everyone, need to be conscious and careful of their actions in an airport and on a plane including considering the perceptions of others. On the other hand passengers, flight crews and airport security should be more knowledgeable and tolerant of divergent beliefs and practices. Someone praying or saying Allah isn't a warning sign in and of itself. Someone fidgetting strangely, sweating profusely or acting in someother strange nervous manner would be a cause to worry. On top of that the 9/11 hijackers showed no outward signs of being muslims. They dressed in western fashion shaved, didn't pray or really say much of anything until the hijacking had actually begun. If there was another Al Qaeda hijacking its unlikely the hijackers would dress in turbans and Keffiyahs and chant "Allah Akbar!" in the terminal or while the plan was on the tarmac.
Karma has a way of turning around. Just watch, some pro bushie christian fundamentalist is going to blow something up. Then all the far right people in the country are going to get profiled.
good point - if someone is trying to hijack a plane they are not going to do anything to draw attention to themselves. if anything, i would be reassured by seeing a bunch of "men of the cloth" praying - a little extra insurance never hurts.
After reading the article, the biggest concern I would have had wouldn't be the praying or their dress necessarily but the additional aspect of having their seats divided throughout the plane. If I recall, the 9/11 hijackers did the same thing to get control of the plane quickly.
And by karma, I assume he meant those passengers who were uncomfortable about the Imams were "pro bushie christian". I am still trying to figure out how 1) Bush, 2) Christian is related to this story, or maybe he is doing the standard "when anything goes wrong, blame it on Bush" routine.
I actually know what is karma, I was pointing out the obvious pot shot he was taking at Bush and Christians while the story is no way related.
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