I hope you see the huge
difference between, say, an individual Muslim employee rolling out his mat, facing
Mecca, and saying prayers and an organized prayer session conducted by a
supervisor in a workplace. If you don't, there's hardly any point in discussing the
subject.
Group display of religious sentiment, in public, is a lot more than a religious
exercise.
If that were the case, I would see a difference. In this case, Ashcroft, I understand, is continuing a practice he has been following for years, of having study and prayer sessions in his office to which people who wish to attend may do so. Nothing, basically, more than a book club. It's not done "in public," it's done in his office or a conference room. Nothing at all like a "group display of religious sentiment, in public." You make it sound like a Billy Graham crusade. That's just silly.
In fact, if the Muslim laid out his prayer mat in a public place, his would be more the public display of religious sentiment, and if he invited others to join him, that would indeed then be a group display of religous sentiment, in public. What difference there is seems more to favor study in a private office. |
