UPDATE: Meredith Jessup of the Blaze has done some digging, and it turns out this case involves an over zealous, activist lawyer:
When I first read about the human rights complaint allegedly filed on behalf of Muslim students at Catholic, I made the mistake of assuming that Muslim students were behind it. Only after personally speaking with the complaint filer — George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf — did I understand what this story was really all about. In fact, not a single Muslim student at Catholic University has signed on to Professor Banzhaf’s complaint and he admitted to me that he lodged the complaint against Catholic with the D.C. Office of Human Rights as a concerned individual, not on behalf of any student or group of students.
Trolling for a complaint to file, Banzhaf admitted to me that he researched the university’s policies and discovered that certain “accommodations” made for other religious groups on campus didn’t seem to be extended to Muslims. “You can‘t hide behind a religious identity and claim that you’re above the law,” he says.
Another student wrote to the school‘s newspaper decrying Banzhaf’s “absurd and irrational” complaint: “Such a mindless outburst does not deserve much attention and I applaud [Catholic University] President Garvey’s silence against this ridiculous accusation.”
To understand the motives behind his complaint, it’s important to understand exactly who Banzhaf is. Professor Banzhaf teaches a course at GWU on “legal activism” — the practice of using legal maneuvers to drive social change. “While most lawyers see the law as a means of living, the legal activist looks to see what kinds of problems I’m interested in and how I can use legal activism as a weapon to address those problems,” Banzhaf says.
In short, Banzhaf is an attorney who runs personal responsibility out of the courtroom, instead blaming McDonald’s for obesity and cigarette companies for smokers’ lung cancer.
Muslims at a Catholic University are offended the university doesn't allow them to take down or cover crosses before they pray and claim their human rights are being violated because the university does not provide a special room for Muslims to pray in.
The Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights confirmed that it is investigating allegations that Catholic University violated the human rights of Muslim students by not allowing them to form a Muslim student group and by not providing them rooms without Christian symbols for their daily prayers.
The investigation alleges that Muslim students “must perform their prayers surrounded by symbols of Catholicism – e.g., a wooden crucifix, paintings of Jesus, pictures of priests and theologians which many Muslim students find inappropriate.”
A spokesperson for the Office of Human Rights told Fox News they had received a 60-page complaint against the private university. The investigation, they said, could take as long a six months.
Banzhaf said some Muslim students were particularly offended because they had to meditate in the school’s chapels “and at the cathedral that looms over the entire campus – the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult somewhere on the campus for the university to set aside a small room where Muslims can pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus,” he told Fox News.
Reality check: If you're offended by Christianity or the Cross, don't go to a Catholic University. It really isn't that hard. Not to mention Catholic Universities are private, they can do whatever they want.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member