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Opening Arguments

Prey tell

If you let people locked up for terrorist activities get together in unsupervised meetings five times a day, what could possibly go wrong?

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - John Walker Lindh, known as the "American Taliban," and other Muslims housed in an Indiana prison have the right to congregate for daily group prayer sessions, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

The decision by officials at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, to ban daily group prayers for Muslim inmates violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson said.

The ruling came in a complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of Lindh, who was captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and two other Muslim inmates.

Sorry, judge, your ruling is just nuts. Religious freedom is important, but so are safety and security. When the encroachment of freedom is slight and the risk for mischief high, shouldn't religious concerns have a lower priority? Anybody can pray anytime anywhere. Forbidding people who have used their religion as a reason to unleash mayhem the privilege of praying together does not seem unreasonable. People who prey together don't get to pray together.

Comments

Tim Zank
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 4:25pm

What's more important Leo? Political correctness or common sense and safety? Get with the program man!

Harl Delos
Mon, 01/14/2013 - 11:34pm

Is there any circumstance under which you'd allow these prisoners of war to be freed to fo home, or are we commited to spending #125,000 per man per year for the next 60 years when they'ce all died?

They've been talking about what doesn't get paid if Congress doesn't allow the national debt to rise, and social security seems to be high on the list.  I'm not collecting very much.  What crime would I need to commit in order to be sure of proper nutition and healthcare fir the rest of my like?

Leo Morris
Tue, 01/15/2013 - 10:39am

That's an interesting question, Harl. In a conventional conflict, the POWS get to go home when the war is over. But when will the "war on terror" be over, and how will we know it?

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