Duke University's weekly Muslim Call to Prayer Takes Nose Dive

[SGOS]

Duke University announced that it would start broadcasting the Adan, or weekly call to prayer every Friday over a loud speaker from its bell tower, but the announcement was met with a tide of objection.  While the call to prayer might be annoying to many since its audio appeal is that of a car horn, some called it an attack on Christianity.  Others said it was Islamaphobic.  Duke University reversed its decision to amplify the prayer, but it will still be done in the public square without a loud speaker.  700 of Duke's 15,000 students are Muslim.

Franklin Graham, president of international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse and the son of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, viewed the announcement as a personal attack on Christianity. Amid the rapidly spreading hashtag #boycottduke, Mr. Graham took to Facebook, where his call to withhold support from Duke was shared over 77,000 times.

“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. I call on the donors and alumni to withhold their support from Duke until this policy is reversed.”

Mr. Schoenfeld said one of the reasons for the university’s decision to reverse the call to prayer was due to a “serious and credible” security threat, according to The Washington Post. Omid Safi, director of Duke’s Islamic Studies Center, said “a number of credible threats against Muslim students, faculty, and staff” were made, and that the school is treating the “external” threats as a “criminal matter.” He continued to say that Muslim students are “scared and disappointed,” and have been advised not to identify themselves.

Ibrahim Hooper with the Council on American-Islamic Relations feels that Duke’s decision will only perpetuate negative feelings towards Islam in the US.

“It sends a message of intolerance,” he said in an interview with WRAL News. “It sends a message that Duke is willing to bow to bigotry and intolerance. The American Muslim community feels targeted by this Islamaphobia we see online, on newspapers, on TV.”

[Draconic Aiur]

It baffles me how people can think a call to prayer would change anything from the start.

[Berati]

I certainly wouldn't support a Christian blasting his beliefs with a loud speaker across a wide open public square. In fact, if a Christian had approached the University to do this I'm positive he would be turned down flat and we would never have even heard of this "controversy"

Double standard much.

[Munch]

Is simple, get yourselves loudspeakers, and counter there proselytizing with your own from on high, loud as you can. And if the school approached you with the threat of removing you from the school, get the media involved, that your right to protest is being impeached. 

[Shiranu]

Meh, at my campus anyways we have people allowed to yell radical Christian messages about how 90% of the women at the school will be going to hell for wearing shorts, show pictures of abortions and yell at people as they are walking by and stuff like that. I think the people who actually support these guys are less than 700, and my campus is much bigger than 15,000 (35,000). The same happened at New Mexico State (closer to 20,000).

They get shut down pretty quickly by people who disagree with them, so it's not a big deal. Most people just kinda stand around and smirk like, "Wow, these people are stupid.". I don't see much double standard; if Christians are allowed to spread hateful messages, why shouldn't Muslims be aloud to do call to prayers (which effects no one other than themselves, and to be honest some adans I have heard are actually quite beautiful).

[eylul]

I hear it 5 times in a day. I am able to listen it. But when i go to Germany and come back to Turkey, its really annoying me till i forget it again.
And we have 2 pray center who could make calls in our campus. And also we have many rooms for pray in each buildings. It doesnt matter if christian people are more. It cant be normal, schools are not for praying. I hate places which say muslims are under pressure. I really sick of heard these bullshits.

(btw sorry for my bad english)

[SGOS]

There are a couple of movies that begin in the Middle East with a man on a loud speaker doing the call to prayer.  I think the Exorcist may be one of them.  To me it's terribly annoying.  I could probably endure it once a week, but I would rather not.  This is not because it's a religious thing for me.  It's just a loud annoying sound that grates on me.

[Shiranu]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it particularly has a place on the campus either, I just don't think it would be that out-of-place when you consider the hateful things Christians are allowed to spread on campuses.

[aitm]

I can assure you if I was woke up with that fucking catter-wallerin, I would dust off the ole 300 mag.

[Berati]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think it particularly has a place on the campus either, I just don't think it would be that out-of-place when you consider the hateful things Christians are allowed to spread on campuses.

You see no difference between individuals proselytizing and a group being given use of a building and equipment to proselytize?

They get shut down pretty quickly by people who disagree with them, so it's not a big deal. Most people just kinda stand around and smirk like, "Wow, these people are stupid.". I don't see much double standard;

How could you shut them down pretty quickly if they were inside a school building and using school property? You are comparing two different scenarios.

Do you recall the discussion around the liberal failure in Michigan when liberals supported the RFRA (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) created in an effort to grant special status to every religion but christianity. This is like that. This time however, the school was not lured into the tolerance trap and did the right thing.

[Jmpty]

I certainly wouldn't support a Christian blasting his beliefs with a loud speaker across a wide open public square. In fact, if a Christian had approached the University to do this I'm positive he would be turned down flat and we would never have even heard of this "controversy"

Double standard much.

Yeah, double standard, except for this giant Christian chapel on the campus.

[Hydra009]

Yeah, double standard, except for this giant Christian chapel on the campus.

Also the fact that a Jewish group recently used the exact same venue and equipment with no problem.  But when it's the Muslim group's turn, then there's fireworks.  Though I suppose it's probably not entirely unrelated that an evangelist got his flock all riled up at the same time.

Berati is right in that there is a double standard, just wrong in its direction.

[Berati]

Yeah, double standard, except for this giant Christian chapel on the campus.

The chapels presence is largely historical and symbolic and the V.P. has described it as "independent and non-sectarian"

However, since the chapel has been used by other demominations I will withdraw the accusation of double standards. Bare in mind that Muslims are allowed to use the facilities, just not broadcast on a recurring schedule.

[Poison Tree]

I don't see a fundamental difference between Muslim students wanting a Friday call to prayer to open their religious service and Christian students getting two Sunday 50 bell serenades book-ending their religious service

also 1000 posts!

[Hydra009]

I don't see a fundamental difference between Muslim students wanting a Friday call to prayer to open their religious service and Christian students getting two Sunday 50 bell serenades book-ending their religious service

also 1000 posts!

Yeah, but you didn't get the Fox News version.  You actually looked it up and made a level-headed judgment instead of knee-jerking with the highly inaccurate "transform it into a minaret" soundbite, which is a rarity these days.  You'd be surprised the number of clueless people a son-of-famous evangelical can whip into a tizzy.