A Muslim amusement park goer in California decided she wanted to ride the rides like the other patrons but didn’t want to follow the rules to do so. Wearing her full Islamic garb, she approached one of the thrill rides and tried to get on when she was told that her burka was a danger, as loose clothing poses an obvious risk of getting entangled. It’s not just a danger to the one wearing it, but everyone else on the ride as well, who were for forced to take a backseat to what she perceived were her rights. Now, the entire amusement park paid a dear price.
The attire rules aren’t new to venues like this which frequently advertise that no loose clothing or open shoes can be worn when on the ride. The reason is obvious to most sensible people, but for Muslims, they see it as an opportunity to claim discrimination and religious persecution at the cost of others.
Park employees stopped the Muslim teen and her similarly dressed friends before they could get on go-karts. Pointing out the posted signage surrounding it, the worker explained the safety rules which specifically applied to attire. This policy wasn’t put into place to isolate anyone who follows Islam, it was to protect everyone in the park and ensure they had a good time, and that the business didn’t get a liability suit. Unfortunately, the Muslim girl didn’t listen to that common sense reasoning.
“If a scarf were to come partially off and get caught in the motor or wheels it could do deadly harm to the rider. This policy did not allow passengers to use the go-karts while wearing anything loose like a head scarf,” Conservative Daily Post reported of the park’s apparently problematic rules for the Muslim 13-year-old. The business’ policy put it bluntly, which apparently added to the perceived offense.
“If fashion, religious expression, or your hairstyle is more important to you than safety, that’s fine. You can do what you want with your life. You just can’t do it at our park,” the policy read. “When I read the policy, I was shocked — in disbelief — about the material I was reading,” the girl’s father, Nasir Abdo, said in his complaint, according to SF Gate.
Abdo took the policy personally while completely ignoring the fact that it wasn’t a target of his family’s religion, but a concern for the teen’s safety. This didn’t stop him from seeking vengeance and financial gain, having, of course, realized an opportunity at hand to exploit the overly politically correct climate in the liberal state of California.
SF Gate reports:
“A complaint against Palace Entertainment, an amusement park company and owner of the Boomers park in Livermore, was filed in August 2014 with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.”
“The grievance was submitted on behalf of seven Muslim girls and women, and a Sikh man after they were denied access to the go-karts because they refused to remove their religious hijab or turbans.”
It’s been nearly four years of since this complaint was filed, forcing the park to defend themselves and their safety rules. However, they just found out that none of that is as important as catering to Islam in the state of California. The company has now been forced to cave to the discrimination complaint, have changed their “no headwear” policy, and paid out a $32,000 settlement to the “victims.”
According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ (CAIR) complaint:
“The law guarantees Californians of all faiths access to places of business and entertainment, and safety concerns must be founded on more than speculation or stereotype. We are pleased that Palace Entertainment worked with DFEH to achieve resolution of these cases without the need for litigation.”
CAIR insists that these seven females and the man in the turban were denied access based on religious bigotry, but failed to point out that each one of them were offered other headgear that would cover their heads as per their religion and make it safe to ride. They declined these options and have now made the entire place unsafe after forcing their religion on others, rather than the park being able to force safety rules on everyone equally — regardless of religion.
Coming to this settlement agreement, the amusement park has to allow ant an all Muslims to wear their headscarves despite risk or injury to themselves or others. There is no solution on how they will move forward with this new policy to protect a religion alongside the safety of other people.
This will inevitably open the park up to more lawsuits. If and when a Muslim’s hijab causes an injury, you can pretty much guarantee the park will be held accountable for that too. Discrimination won’t be the problem at that point, disability will and the turban/headscarf wearer will win again, while everyone else loses out to this religion who would never make the same exceptions for any other faith.
