Minneapolis college to use tax dollars to accommodate Muslim students

Minneapolis college to use tax dollars to accommodate Muslim students

The founder of a Minnesota-based ministry is attributing political correctness and fear as likely factors behind a Minneapolis college's decision to give in to the demands of Islamic students to install special facilities for a Muslim religious practice.

The Star Tribune in Minneapolis has reported that Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) is planning to install facilities to help Muslim students perform ritual foot washing before daily prayers. The school's president says its no different than providing a fish option for Christian students during Lent. But Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries in Minneapolis, says adding something to a cafeteria menu is a far cry from spending taxpayer dollars on something designed to benefit one religious group.

And according to Star Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten, similar religious allowances could be on the horizon at MCTC. Kersten writes that "accommodations" for the school's Islamic students are being coordinated by the Muslim Accommodations Task Force. That group's objectives, she reports, include: permanent Muslim prayer spaces, separate food and housing for Muslim students, separate hours at athletic facilities for Muslim women, paid imams or religious counselors, and campus observance of Muslim holidays.

Markell theorizes about institutions like MCTC that make such accommodations. "People are caving partly due to political correctness -- and I do think also to some fear," she comments. "I think there's fear of what could happen if they turn down some of these requests.

"But you have to ask," she continues: "How long do you go on, bowing to the needs of the Muslim community in America?"

Markell says even though the Lord Jesus Christ washed the feet of His disciples, she doubts school officials would have accommodated Christian students wanting a special place to conduct ceremonial foot washing. "They don't cave when the Christians request something or when the Jews request something," she asserts.

The ministry leader feels that Muslims who come to the United States should assimilate into the American culture and not force their culture on everyone else. "Why do they come here and demand that we change laws for them?" she asks -- adding that she is "kind of okay" if they want to blend in with the society, although "you never know which ones you can trust."

Markell has stated in the past that she is fearful her home state is on its way to becoming the "Islamic Republic of Minnesota."