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'Suspicious activity' at Wellington turns out to be Muslim couple praying
By adamg on Thu, 06/16/2016 - 6:37pm
The Orange Line was shut at Wellington this morning as T police with long rifles investigated a report of "suspicious activity" that turned out to be a Muslim couple praying, the Herald reports.
And then, this afternoon on the Red Line:
As seen on @MBTA red line - my heart breaks for our world... #whycantwebefriends #supportoneanother @universalhub pic.twitter.com/SbiaCeafFZ
— Cate ☀️ (@cateconnerty) June 16, 2016
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Comments
I'd be praying too
If I was on a train and cops with long rifles were pointed at me, if you pull out your crucifix will they let you go? Do all the Transit cops carry rifles or machine guns?
In fairness to the cops the T should release the phone calls that started this fiasco before they get sued.
What is the world coming to?
I don't want to get overly religious or anything, but what has the world come to when people PRAYING is now a "suspicious activity"?
Muslim people that is
No one would have called 911if the praying started with crossing yourself (forehead, heart, both shoulders) then hands together in prayer, just like Jesus. It's about racism, not religion.
For the 1,862,879 time
Islam is a religion, not a race.
Only if the objection to praying is universally applied
When it's only done to Muslims (or people brown enough to be "assumed" Muslim) then it's racism.
Nope
Having biases against a people due to their religious beliefs is certainly not racism. It's religious bigotry, religious prejudice, or perhaps sectarianism, but since Muslims come is all different races, having something against Muslims is not racism.
Now, to have an issue with Arabs, that could be racist, but that would assume you are okay with South Asians, Somalis, Bosnians, and other non-Arab Muslims.
Oh ffs
I don't know which is scarier.
The terrorists or the people who see them everywhere.
Well if you'd listen to talk radio and watch Faux Newts
you'd realize that everywhere you go in "our America" these days there are bi-sexual Muslim women breastfeeding Mexican babies wearing Clinton Sanders 2016 t shirts.
Feel better now?
Feel better now?
NPR interview about Trump and Republican women in Ohio
One of them pretty much went there - claimed that you can't go to the mall or grocery store or send your kids to elementary school without risking Muslim terrorist attacks.
Seriously unhinged.
No. Not until we provide firearms to our toddlers and
Alzheimer patients.
Who prays at a train station?
Sounds like they wanted to provoke the exact reaction they got.
Oh, for fuck's sake
Maybe we should start calling 911 every time that angry screaming Jesus guy with the stupid sign gets in somebody's face at South Station. I find him a lot more worrisome than a couple of people observing their faith during Ramadan.
People who pray when it is time to pray
regardless of where they are. That's who.
Well to play devil's advocate.
Muslims in transit (or any other situation which finds them outside of their normal daily routine) who need to pray should find "clean natural earth". (This is according to a muslim friend of mine). He said this couple should have left the platform and found some "grass" or somewhere to show you made some sort of effort to follow the scriptures and appease god. Train platforms are not clean, and should never be used for prayer.
But like many Christians today, he said that some muslims are lazy and will simplify traditions to suit their own schedules and needs.
eh
I used to work at an ESL school with a large Muslim population. When it was time to pray, the more devout would go into an empty classroom and do their thing on the not-terribly-clean and not-at-all-natural carpeting. It may not be a case of laziness so much as following the tenets of their faith to the best of their ability given their current circumstances.
Yea, just throwing it out there Malcolm...
You probably noticed that many of them had their own rugs that they keep and lay down when they pray to be as clean as possible. Being clean is actually part of the prayer I guess.
It would also be interesting to see if any Muslims actually do this in Muslim countries (Saudia Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Senegal, etc)
Sheesh
Are you really going to say it's their fault because they didn't pray correctly?
No, god might though.
Are you really going to tell me that god thinks muslims can pray however they want to? Because the Koran has verses on how prayer must be done.
Maybe they didn't want to pay twice
If they left the station and came back in it would have cost them an extra fare.
As religion is a personal endeavor perhaps they feel the act of praying is important whereas the location is unimportant. None of us are right to judge.
Provided they aren't impeding the use of the station for it's intended purpose they can do whatever they want on the platform as far as I'm concerned.
Bdog....
I'm not judging, just telling you that some muslims would say that praying on a dirty MBTA platform is an offense to God. Not my opinion, but the opinion of a muslim who's says the Koran outlines where, how, and when to pray.
Whether it bothers you or me is another story.
Wellington Station
ha ha ha ha ha ha! I'm going to guess that you haven't been to Wellington in a while. Or ever.
Check out Google Satellite. Any 'grass' you see nearby is fenced off/in. By the time the worshippers found suitable soil, they'd have gone a fair distance. I don't know if there is stringent timing on the prayers, what my brief read of Wikipedia tells me is that certain prayers have timing associated with them (the first, noon and dusk, then there is afternoon ...).
Not my rules or religion.
It's probably up to god whether or not these people had enough time to plan to find a place to pray right? Our opinions don't really matter.
(FYI I took a train inbound from Wellington Station in 1995. I remember very little about the place).
True
Up to God and the T, lol.
That part of Medford is a sad, sorry wasteland of concrete and asphalt. I know the surroundings are being worked on and developed, but boy is it depressing. This coming from a car person. There is a balance that can be found, but not for Wellington, apparently.
having worked in a muslim
having worked in a muslim country during Ramadan, when it's time, prayer happens wherever, including on the asphalt of the side of the highway.
Thank you
for a sane comment
They wanted to provoke?
Incredibly ignorant statement.
Victim Blaming
It means that you never have to actually own your own stupidity!
Who wears a short skirt?
Who drives a fancy car?
Who walks home from school?
Who goes to a bar and has a beer?
Who walks their dogs in the evening in Coolidge Corner?
Who goes to a Burger King late at night?
Yeah, praying - that's asking for it!
People are afraid. Two guys
People are afraid. Two guys with backpacks at a marathon don't seem so threatening either. This is exactly what the terrorists want so I put the blame on them.
Exactly what who wants?
Exactly what the NRA wants.
Exactly what Hillary Clinton wants.
Exactly what Donald Trump wants.
Exactly what the Homeland Security industry wants.
Exactly what the militarized police forces want.
Etc.
Que the band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7Op86ox9g
Sorry. I don't see any humor
Sorry. I don't see any humor in all of this. Muslims are being discrimated against, people are scared and on high alert and others have been killed. For me it's not a time to blame the wrong people.
We are all gonna die!
I saw a group of guys praying at the T station this morning ... Identical hair cuts, black pants, white shirts, and BLACK BACKPACKS!!!!!
When they finished they all headed off in different directions in pairs .... to prepare the bombs, no doubt!
Omg omg omg ... BACKPACKS and PRAYING!
Wow. You got jokes. People
Wow. You got jokes. People have died including friends in my community. You are awful
TRIGGER WARNING!!!!!
Lots of people die all the time. That doesn't mean that we have to stop mocking the hateful stupidity that causes some deaths. Ever.
They don't die all the time
They don't die all the time at schools,concerts, marathons and night clubs. I personally am not living in fear but some are and I don't think we should call it hate. It's called fear. We can make fun about it all we want but that isn't going to help things. It is sad that two people were praying in their language and someone got freaked enough to call 911. Very sad.
Trigger Warning
Adorable!
Missed the mark
I believe she was pointing out the Mormon missionaries do this all the time on the T and no one calls the cops.
In the immortal words of the Greek Poet/ Philosopher Homer
Simpson "Duoh!!!"
They're obligated to...
Praying at certain times of day is mandatory. If a Muslim happens to be out (or in the very likely case, they planned to be somewhere else by then, but you know, MBTA), they pray where they are.
Who prays at train stations?
Muslims - if that's where they are when its time to pray. The faithful pray 5 times every day at specific times. Even the less religious types observe during Ramedan, which is happening right now. Who lights candles for eight straight days? Jewish people during Hannukah. Who puts lights on trees in the winter and hangs up socks? Christians. Hope this helped.
Isn't it standard practice to pray the T
runs.
Clearly,
you don't understand. I worked at a town library and one day a Muslim man got out his prayer rug to pray in one of our aisles. We let him be. When it is time to pray, they pray.
Praying is small potato's. I confuse easily when it comes to
American conservatives and Islam. We needed to invade Iraq because of 911 and to free the muslims, we need to get out of Iraq because these muslim people just want to kill one another, we need to re-invade Iraq because these muslim people are killing one another. We hate Iran, we are allied with Iran's ally the Iraq we created in the war against Isis. We need to bomb them into the stone age, we need to bring them into modernity. We believe religious freedom, we must ban muslims.
Joe Strummer did but it was
in vain.
no subject
Yes we know
The Sisko doesn't like having his name used in vain.
MAKE ORANGE LINE PLATFORM GREAT AGAIN
blargh blargh
Yep
Because the problem with the Orange Line is too many of "those" people, not rusting out trains, bad switches, etc. etc.
...sarcasm... WHOOSH!
n/t
I GET IT
IT'S BECAUSE HIS HAIR IS ORANGE
Sheltering in place.
Sheltering in place.
That is what people do
waiting for the Red line in January.
Except there's no shelter
On most of the southern portion. Open platforms to wait in vain. (Liked the Joe reference, BTW)
praying on a train
Praying on is not the social norm here. I'd be concerned if someone was praying on a train, no matter what the faith. I would also get as far away from those who would do such a thing.
I used to manage a restaurant some years back and kicked out a bible thumper for praying out loud while blessing the premises because it made the patrons feel uneasy.
If you need to stick to your faith because you have to pray at certain times of the day, plan ahead.
Amen!
!
Ha!
thanks Swirly
Glad someone got it.
As long as someone doesn't pee on the seats or start fights it doesn't matter to me what anyone does on the T,
as someone pointed out above
It's more than possible that they had in fact planned to be where they could pray in relative safety and privacy, but the T is a pile of flaming garbage, and it often ruins the best-laid plans. Or, hell, maybe they just thought that they were in a tolerant part of a country that promises freedom of religion. How silly of them.
Societal norms
-- Praying on is not the social norm here.-- -- If you need to stick to your faith because you have to pray at certain times of the day, plan ahead. --
If your god does not allow for societal norms in the manner of allowing a simple time delay or if delaying prayer causes emotional distress, then it is time to rethink your religion, IMHO.
My dingbat ex-wife used to breast feed in the middle of church services and once at the dinner table at my company Christmas party. Even though she was well within her rights and I outwardly supported her choices in social behavior, I completely disagree with her sense of proportion to this day. My support for her social choices was by veritable contract - marriage. Her legal right was covered by law. These ill-timed praying folk are legally covered by law for their actions, but I don't have anything to force me or convince me that I should care a single bit for their hideous sense of proportion.
The Founders of our Country
They made sure that we all know what these norms are by specifying them in the Bill of Rights.
Oh, wait.
I suggest that you google Washington's letter to a Jewish temple congregation and, seriously, grow up sometime soon. This isn't middle school in the 1970s like you seem to think that it is.
What are the social norms
and according to whom?
Social norms include behavior
Social norms include behavior that does not result in armed response.
Social norms can change extremely quickly. Society decides norms.
If a million or so Muslims slapped a "ISIS - Douchier Than Obama" bumper sticker on their cars the day after the Miami nightclub slaughter then a new social norm might be for those of right-wing ideology to politely remind Muslims of an imminent prayer time when appropriate.
You can text your
God now to include happy face emoji thus making churches, synagogues mosque's etc. obsolete.
Adam you are a pathetic
Adam you are a pathetic liberal. I hate you.
Aw, but I love you
C'mere and lemme give you a big ol' hug and skritch you behind your ears.
haha
Adam...you..you...you...
you...you..... ehhhh
Good for the Transit Police and the caller(s) to 911
The race to political correctness here is interesting as I was talking with a 25 year-old female, African-American friend and neither one of us will ever attend the Boston Marathon again. We both had family/friends working BPD that day. Significant age, race and cultural differences between us, but we both agreed it's too risky. The grocery store is a little more necessary but I wouldn't be in any rush to a nightclub, especially a gay one. God Bless our Transit Police. We have spent tens of millions on "see something, say something" so when a Muslim couple decides to pray on a train platform a week after the latest and worst Muslim terrorist shooting on US soil, I'm glad it was investigated. I only take the T a few times a year but monitor the TPD radio. I haven't heard of any Catholic Novenas or Jewish Torah readings on the platform. Take the Muslim prayer to the Mosque, perhaps the one Menino gave you.
T
And you and your ilk are not missed.
So you don't walk through
So you don't walk through South Station where Christian conservatives are trying to push their books on people every day, eh.
I get accosted by Buddhists daily
On Long Wharf in the nice weather. Keep your damn religions to yourself.
Buddhist Monkfestation
It is a new thing. They seem to have discovered that we have tourists and start the day wherever the giant busloads of Chinese (in particular) unload early on, then fan out through the area.
Not so much "in your face" as very direct. However, if you give them a little money, they give you a little bracelet that wards off further convergence. My Aunt discovered this. I noticed that the ones near my office have learned to figure out the tourists versus the workers, too, and generally leave the workers be now.
As a general rule...
... genuine Buddhist monks are NOT supposed to accost anyone. They are supposed to stand silently, accepting any donations offered. There are supposedly folks who _pretend_ to be Buddhist monks who do aggressively solicit monetary donations. I have not encountered this phenomenon here -- but have seen some pretty suspicious supposed "Buddhist monks" in NYC.
What is "too risky"?
What you and your friend would seem to have in common would be some difficulty applying statistics to reason about risk.
What is it? UnAmerican, that's what.
"We would rather air on the side of caution"
Glad to see the Herald's editors are enjoying their early weekend.
Fat Joe has that Rap career going so....
Bang out early like a city worker, hope spell check works, there are no libel suits in Monday's mail, Howie gets a new stenographer and that Joe Battenfeld doesn't get trapped in a rotary.
The Herald's editors and staff taking
Bunker Hill Day off? Perish the thought.
To be fair
Compare the coverage in the Globe to the Herald coverage (front page, 3 reporters on the story.)
Thank goodness we are a 2 newspaper town.
It's 2 days later and the Herald is still reporting
"air on the side of caution" . I'm guessing no one there knows what the word "err" means
I've scoured the print version several times
And the phrase, correct or otherwise, does not appear. Why correct an error that didn't make it until the final cut?
Or should they have reported they way the Globe did?
Print version??? haha
the thing with online versions is that they can be corrected.
Still "air" as of Saturday 12:53
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2016/06/mbta_gm_officers...
Still wondering
How many typos were in the story on the Globe's website?
But yeah, the Herald is much worse than the Globe.
It wasn't a typo
It was an ignorant use of an incorrect word. And yes, the Herald is much worse than the Globe. You're right about that Waq!
Btw, still "air" as of 11:34 AM Sunday morning.
True
But, once again, how much better was the coverage in the Globe? I'm not quite sure how do derive a ratio when one outlet didn't type a word on the event.
And my print version is still correct.
According to George Bernard
According to George Bernard Shaw, a Frenchman was once arrested for praying in Westminster Abbey. This suspicious behavior was reported by the verger, who said he had never seen such a thing before.
The magistrate asked, quite reasonably, why the French gentleman should not be allowed to pray in a church. “If we allowed that,” said the verger, “ we should have people praying all over the place.”
Thanks...
...for the GBS quote.