O'Reilly: closing public schools for Muslim hol ... [Media Matters]

O'Reilly: closing public schools for Muslim hol ... [Media Matters]:

On the October 27 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly called the idea of closing public schools for the observance of Muslim holidays "absurd in a Judeo-Christian country." O'Reilly made this remark during a discussion with Hillsborough County, Florida, commissioner Brian Blair, who opposed the Hillsborough County school board's decision to keep public schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, a departure from the school district's earlier practice of closing schools on those days. In December 2004, Hillsborough County Muslims, with the backing of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked the school board to close schools on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Instead of giving students the day off on Eid Al-Fitr, the school board voted to keep schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, reasoning that the school district could close schools on days when a substantial number of students would be absent but could not close schools specifically for the observance of religious holidays. The school district will continue its practice of allowing students to take days off on religious holidays, although schools will remain open.
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O'REILLY: So a Muslim wanted a Muslim holiday, which is absurd in a Judeo-Christian country. I mean, we can't be having Hindu and Buddha. I mean, come on. I mean, this country is founded on Judeo-Christian traditions. ...