Dear Mr. President,
I
have been attending Wright State University for almost a year now and
normally I just keep my nose to the grindstone and pay little attention
to the politics or events that occur at the university. That is until lately. A few weeks ago I was talking to a fellow student who I will refer to as Jane. We were talking about things we were going to do after class on one of the many 100 degree days and swimming came up. I discovered that Jane has never been swimming due to her religious beliefs. This amazed and shocked me. I
immediately came home and did some internet research on her Muslim
religion and discovered that the women cannot swim in mixed company and
even if it is just females they are still required to wear a modified
swimsuit that meets their religious requirements.
Just this week I was talking again to Jane and another student of her religion, I will refer to her as Beth. Beth, Jane and I were talking after a class and we were discussing the religious observance of Ramadan. I
discovered that they have to pray 5 times a day during this time period
on top of the fasting that takes part during daylight hours. I asked them if the prayer times conflicted with class times and they said it didn’t matter. This confused me so I asked why. What I heard next honestly appalls and disgusts me. These
two young ladies do not feel safe or comfortable enough to pray at
school during this time. Instead they stress over not being able to pray
until they get home and then do all the prayers they have missed as
well as all the other things they have to do. I understand that at times stress cannot be avoided but this seems one of those times it can be. If
I remember my history correctly people came to this country many years
ago to escape religious persecution and here we are the descendants of
those same people persecuting people of a religion different than what
is believed to be standard. I am not a devout Christian,
nor am I any other specific religion but I do believe that each person
has a right to worship who, where and how they want to without fear of
being ridiculed or punished. I served in the army once
myself and one of the reasons I did this was to be available to protect
this great country we have if I was needed. Many people today are still out there protecting, being injured and even being killed to protect us here at home.
What
I am requesting in this letter is two things. First and most
importantly I would like to see if there is an area facing East that can
be set up during Ramadan (or even throughout the school year) for
students like Jane and Beth to pray at so they and others of their
religion can do so in peace and without fear. Even if is
something as simple as a curtained off area for them, similar to the
curtain stands I have seen at The Hanger this summer to section off some
tables.
The second request I have may be a bit harder to do. I
was wondering if there is a way to set aside a few times a week for
females of their Muslim religion to swim without breaking any of their
religious laws. Every person young and old should have the
experience of swimming and being able to relax with others, especially
those dealing with the stress of college.
I understand that the time since September 11th many people are afraid of the Muslim religion but we cannot let fear rule us and turn us against a whole religion. To
continue to allow those that are not dangerous to have to hide a part
of themselves is only encouraging that fear and encouraging those that
we are fighting against.
Here at home we must do our part to protect our way of life while those that are giving their lives do their part. One
way to do this would be to continue to accept people for who they are
not based on their religion, style of dress or skin color. If I was
currently deployed I would not want to hear of people here in America
living in fear of being persecuted for their religious beliefs. The world is full of so many different religions that to pick one to be more supreme than the other would and is impossible. Even
in the U.S. we have religions that are accepted but restrict the way
they dress and/or wear their hair: Pentecostal, Mormon, Amish and Jewish
to name a few.
Thank you for taking the time to read
this and I hope you can be of some help in helping make Jane, Beth and
others like them feel more welcome at this college.
Sincerely,
Natalie removed for identity reasons
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your input, discussion or even hate comments ;)
