We cater to people with dietary needs like gluten free, salt free, sugar free, no peanuts, etc. so why not pork free and alcohol free? Some of the comments seem downright hateful to me. Just my two cents.
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Leave the religion at home. No one is forcing them to bring their intolerant beliefs to tolerant places and tolerant places shouldn't arrest themselves to cater to this madness.
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I think the whole thing is a little intolerant: why no alcohol on drinking carts, why hotels with no pork on the menu: is it not enough that it is only correctly marked? If you for religious don't use alcohol, or pork, why prohibit it for other people?
Why force your choice on anyone else?
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@Wim Braakhuis
No one is forcing you to skip alcohol or pork: it's all about choice. Now if you have a problem with Islam you should be straightforward about it rather than beat around the bush...
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I, although consider myself very liberal, yet am not comfortable eating food for which I am not sure if it is pork free. Although it may seem easy to just eat vegetarian food, but I had instance in which my salad contained pork bits.
In this day and age where we can rather easily find foods those are "gluten free" or prepared at facilities which does not process nuts, it is harder to find food prepared at facility that does not process pork.
If business are planning to cater for that portion of the population, it is a win win situation.
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@Bilal
I agree with you Bilal - I suppose the other option would be abstention from food.
Travel, widen your horizon and when in Rome, do like the Romans do. If you need to find abroad what you have at home, then better stay home.
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@Marie: But Westerners NEVER do that. Wherever Europeans travel, they seek to recreate their homeland, especially when it comes to food. I was recently in Vietnam and Bali, and found the French enjoying French wines and croissants, while Britons could be found in Irish pubs soaked in ales and beers.
I find it laughable that Europeans dispense “when in Rome” advice when they rarely follow it themselves.
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@Marie
Every traveler has to balance the desire to explore another culture with the constraints and expectations that one places on him- or herself. Many Americana might travel to places in Europe but would avoid food items (e.g. horse, escargot) due to American sensibilities. Many Europeans might travel to East Asia and avoid readily available food that might offend European sensibilities.
It is quite possible for a devout person (whether Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Protestant, etc.) to visit Rome and fully appreciate how the Romans live life. A person visiting the Vatican can be in awe of the majesty of the Sistine Chapel without having to convert. A person can choose to eat those dishes that they are comfortable eating and avoid dishes that are otherwise proscribed. There are plenty of vegetarian Romans who do not drink who are nonetheless bona fide Romans, Italians and Europeans.
It is always better for a person to travel and see the world even if one does not fully partake in all aspects of the culture. The world would be a better place if we got to know each other rather than to encourage people to stay home. That's the worst advice.
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@Marie, I’m a Muslim woman and I’ve never had any problems traveling. I’ve been all over the world.
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It is unfortunate that the NYTimes chose to picture only a male Muslim business owner. Though the article leads with a story about a travel business conceived and enacted by a Muslim woman, the lone picture of a business executive that accompanied the article is that of a man. With so many misconceptions about the Muslim world - and especially the place of women in it - this was a missed opportunity.
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@RB
Here we go again RB - the reason you brought it up is because you are looking through a different lens - the lens of religiosity . Chill , man - everyone is not gunning for you or your religion.
This is wonderful. You can only broaden your horizons by travelling the world and exploring cultures with their rich histories. For Muslims, this should be natural as the Quran encourages "travelling the earth" to learn about the present and the past. And one can enjoy such adventures without alcohol.
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@Sheema Khan
Dear Sheema, your observations are like a breath of fresh air . At the same time I wish you would not inject religion into everything for example travelling the earth is not that profound an idea that it has to emanate from the Quran.Also alcohol is not such an evil that that has to be interjected into every idea or concept.
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While an interesting curiosity that there is a sub-segment of Muslims being targeted by the tourism industry for its specific market needs, I find that news stories about Muslims are somehow always about this “other” group with “weird” demands even when they are framed as good for capitalism (tourism, finance). I have never read any story about businesses targeting Evangelical groups or Orthodox Jews because of their special religious demands or characteristics. There are so many of us secular, minimally observant Muslims who find no presence in the news media. When the only Muslims in the public eye are observant, religious Muslims you keep perpetuating the myth that somehow Muslims are a different monolithic “other” with no diversity of belief or non-belief within them. The coverage of Muslims in the West is simplistic, harmful and does nothing but perpetuate stereotypes.
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@FZ Excellent points. But for sure there are, and have been for many years, many businesses targeting Evangelicals and Orthodox Jews precisely because of their special religious needs. That is not news. As for "secular, minimally observant Muslims", what special, different needs do they have that create a similar business targeting opportunity? And regarding the simplistic coverage of Muslims in the West, it would be great to see more of them more openly talking about their non-observant practices. In my limited experience, such Muslims are often disinclined to promote their non-observant behavior, like eating pork, drinking alcohol and not praying 5x daily.
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Dear FZ
Have you ever thought of the reason why the coverage is that way ? It is best at times to look inward and be honest with oneself instead of always playing the martyr card. There is an old saying - know thyself to which I would add know thine own religion before blaming others all the time.
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@FZ: you raise a very good point. Recently in Italy I encountered a charming couple in a museum. We struck up a conversation and wound up having lunch together.
Over the course of an afternoon I learned that they were Lebanese Muslims. I would’ve never known that they were Muslim - both had fair hair and green eyes, and the wife didn’t wear a head covering - had I not got to know them. They would never feature in, say, a NYT photo of “Muslim travelers in Madrid” because there was no telltale headscarf and no shaggy bin Laden beard.
And yet this couple quietly observed their faith. They didn’t drink wine with me at lunch - they humbly demurred, but did not mind as I imbibed. And they were careful to ask the waiter that their salads didn’t contain pork.
Muslims are all around us, but we only perceive them when they have overt signs of Muslimness, which articles like this one (inadvertently) promote. We all know instinctively that the person sitting next to us in a café who looks and dresses like us may be a Jew, but Muslims, in the Western perception, are only those who look and dress in an “Islamic” way. The effect is almost one of caricature.
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Fab, capitalism at work and I love it.
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