forfeit because of religious beliefs

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Judtech

Seriously? You are going to use that line with regards to a Jewish school? Judging by your tag line at the bottom (Jn 3:16) you should probably know the ramifications and the meaning of that.

Good grief. Knowing Billy as I do, I'm willing to stipulate that the phrase was not accidental. So?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Everyone has their own cross to bear.

Originally Posted by Judtech

Seriously? You are going to use that line with regards to a Jewish school? Judging by your tag line at the bottom (Jn 3:16) you should probably know the ramifications and the meaning of that.

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

Good grief. Knowing Billy as I do, I'm willing to stipulate that the phrase was not accidental. So?

Thus the title, "Mixed Up Metaphor ???".

If I, or Winston Churchill, have offended any members of the Jewish faith, I sincerely apologize. Just say the word and I will delete my post.

Remember, many of us on the Forum, Christians, Jews, and Muslims, are all sons of Abraham. And, Jesus was a Jew.

[rockyroad]

Originally Posted by ref3808

Essentially these children were penalized for adhering to and practicing their faith. The game time and/or location should have been changed. It's the WIAA that should be penalized, not the school.

The WIAA has been VERY clear over the last 20 or so years that game times are set in advance and will not be changed to cater to one group or another. If they make the change for this group, they have to be willing to postpone Friday night semi-final games until Saturday night and then move the Championship games to Sunday - thus affecting everyone else involved in a negative way. That makes no sense.

I admire these kids, their coaches, their Rabbi's and their parents for sticking to their beliefs. But they knew what the situation was going in - this did not take them by surprise. They made their choices. They were not penalized or punished - they chose.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

They made their choices. They were not penalized or punished, they chose.

They probably got more of a positive life lesson from this situation than if they had played the game. After all, basketball is only a game. Pretty classy showing up to shake hands with the other team. Look at the smiles on their faces in the photo. The smiles really look sincere, not forced. Hopefully the other team didn't think this was, in any way, unsporting.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

The WIAA has been VERY clear over the last 20 or so years that game times are set in advance and will not be changed to cater to one group or another. If they make the change for this group, they have to be willing to postpone Friday night semi-final games until Saturday night and then move the Championship games to Sunday - thus affecting everyone else involved in a negative way. That makes no sense.

I admire these kids, their coaches, their Rabbi's and their parents for sticking to their beliefs. But they knew what the situation was going in - this did not take them by surprise. They made their choices. They were not penalized or punished - they chose.

The big question is whether they regularly schedule games on Sunday or not? If not, why? Of course they, and most states, don't in order to not infringe on the beliefs of the majority of religious schools.

Oregon has had the same issue with an Adventist school. It went all the way to the State Supreme Court and they, perhaps based on an Oregon-specific law, ruled that the OSAA must make reasonable accomodations. (All of the intermediate courts had ruled the same way but the OSAA pursued appeals all the way to the top.) Reasonable was not spelled out but moving the time to before sundown on Friday or after sundown on Saturday was ruled to be reasonable. Neither type of change really affects anyone negatively so the only argument against it is really just an anti-religion argument (or anti-Adventist, or other similar less common groups).

[Mark Padgett]

Without commenting on what the state should or should not have done, I have to say I really admire those girls for adhering to their beliefs. They should be proud of themselves and I wish them the best in the future.