Don't Bring That Booze into My Taxi

New York Sun ^ | 10/10/06 | Daniel Pipes

[Jean S]

A minor issue at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) has potentially major implications for the future of Islam in the United States.

Starting about a decade ago, some Muslim taxi drivers serving the airport declared that they would not transport passengers visibly carrying alcohol, in transparent duty-free shopping bags, for example. This stance stemmed from their understanding of the Koran's ban on alcohol. A driver named Fuad Omar explained: "This is our religion. We could be punished in the afterlife if we agree to [transport alcohol]. This is a Koran issue. This came from heaven." Another driver, Muhamed Mursal, echoed his words: "It is forbidden in Islam to carry alcohol."

The issue emerged publicly in 2000. On one occasion, 16 drivers in a row refused a passenger with bottles of alcohol. This left the passenger - who had done nothing legally wrong - feeling like a criminal. For their part, the 16 cabbies lost income. As Josh L. Dickey of the Associated Press put it, when drivers at MSP refuse a fare for any reason, "they go to the back of the line. Waaaay back. Past the terminal, down a long service road, and into a sprawling parking lot jammed with cabs in Bloomington, where drivers sit idle for hours, waiting to be called again."

[massgopguy]

Hey look Ahmed, the Pork Rinds just don't go down as easy without a beer chaser.

[massgopguy]

Hey look Ahmed, the Pork Rinds just don't go down as easy without a beer chaser.

[soccermom]

Let the market decide. If people don't like what the Muslim cab drivers are doing, don't give them your business. I don't think the government should be dictating business policy.

[stm]

Then ask them if they allow alcohol in their cabs. If they say no, tell them to take a hike. Eventually they will have to submit or go out of business

[Holicheese]

So a pizza delivery guy can not refuse delivery to a dangerous area because he will be DEAD, but, a muslim cab driver can refuse service to someone carrying alcohol.
How have we gotten to this strange time in our history?

[Rummyfan]

No rides in a taxi driven by a mooselimb then. Walk if necessary!

[Thombo2]

"Perhaps Christian and Jewish cab drivers can now start refusing Muslims fares."But..but.....that would be discriminatory:)

[Holicheese]

I like to pour mine on the corner for my peeps taht can't be here with me.

[Political Junkie Too]

Don't Bring That Booze into My Taxi

I haven't seen this question answered anywhere:

Are these driver-owned cars or are the taxis owned by a business and the drivers just check out the cars each day?

-PJ

[mockingbyrd]

It's actually not similar to the pharmacist who objected to refused to fill prescriptions that ended life, in her mind. The point of medicine is to heal, and forcing people to participate in things that actually cause harm, such as RU 486, or in Oregon, filling Doctor assisted suicide orders, is wrong.

I understood that it was against the law to refuse a fair. If not, then why can't the cabbies choose who they offer their service to?

[MplsSteve]

Easier said than done if you live in Minneapolis-St Paul.

Well over half of the cab drivers are Somali, a smaller group are Nigerians and the smallest group are white guys.

More often than not, my cab driver was a Somali. If I wanted to get home, I took the ride.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

"boycott the Muslim taxis"
damned good idea.
what's to stop the sensible rider from saying "oh, sorry, I've got wine in my bags. I'll have to take another taxi".
Since PC won't allow us to kick the throat-slitters out, we have to fight back in this way.

[Slump Tester]

I think everyone should carry bottles. Let's keep sending these bastards to the back of the line and letting the American drivers get their fares.

[stm]

I wonder if getting in their cab after a night of drinking and throwing up on their backseat counts.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

"We could be punished in the afterlife if we agree to [transport alcohol]."
what a warped set of values that considers the carrying of alcohol worse than slowly slicing the head off a person while singing religious ditties!

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

"It is forbidden in Islam to carry alcohol."
It is forbidden in my religion to lock kids in a school and torture and murder them.

[sarasota]

"How have we gotten to this strange time in our history"?

It's called the "slippery slope" or the boiling frog analogy.

[Holicheese]

You are so right.
How can someone with a straight face, argue that this is OK?

[Mister Da]

Gimme a few more minutes & I'll think of a few more reasons.

As an alternative to actually refusing a muslim fare, a couple of miniatures of Bacardi or Jim Beam dangling from the rear view mirror or a bright yellow Budweiser on Board sign in the window might ward off the suicidal ones. Sorta like garlic to a vampire.

It seems reasonable that if a muslim cabbie doesn't want to carry a dog or booze, then they certainly don't want to ride in a cab containing either. Usually, I don't either, but I'm changing my attitude & tightening my seat belt.

Free thinking societies should be able to chew up & spit out these ridiculously primitive ideas of intolerance, but we have lived in freedom for so long we have forgotten why.

[Semi Civil Servant]

With this in mind, MAC proposed a pragmatic solution: drivers unwilling to carry alcohol could get a special color light on their car roofs, signaling their views on alcohol to taxi starters and customers alike.

Perhaps neighborhoods should be allowed to put up "special colored lights" to signal their views that Muslims shouldn't be free to live in that section of town.

Perhaps business should be allowed to put up "special colored lights" to signal that "No Muslims Need Apply.