Donald Trump ends decades-long White House tradition of celebrating Ramadan with iftar dinner - Polidicks

[QUOTE=sgman91;52403085]I don't see how not participating in a religious event for a religion you don't believe in is an insult. I wouldn't expect a non-Christian president to attend all the Christian holiday stuff.[/QUOTE] Taken in isolation sure, on top of everything else DJT has done, it's insulting.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52403085]I don't see how not participating in a religious event for a religion you don't believe in is an insult. I wouldn't expect a non-Christian president to attend all the Christian holiday stuff.[/QUOTE] Pretty much what I was trying to say apart from the islamophobic blasting I got.

People clutching at straws to discredit Trump. Who really cares? To me, it seems it matters very little. It seems everything Trump does is vilified. I bet you if he went there'd be a similar thread like this one and people calling him a hypocrite.

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;52403212]Taken in isolation it needs a good enough excuse if it was the case every year for several decades.[/QUOTE] Why does it need an excuse at all? IMO, it's pretty silly that non-Muslims celebrated a Muslim religious holiday in the first place. Tolerance is about letting people do what they want, not celebrating everything, even if you disagree with it.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52405864]Why does it need an excuse at all? IMO, it's pretty silly that non-Muslims celebrated a Muslim religious holiday in the first place. Tolerance is about letting people do what they want, not celebrating everything, even if you disagree with it.[/QUOTE] Trump is the president of every American, even the Muslim ones.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52403085]I don't see how not participating in a religious event for a religion you don't believe in is an insult. I wouldn't expect a non-Christian president to attend all the Christian holiday stuff.[/QUOTE] Maybe because canceling a long held tradition of something as easy as a small dinner to show respect and support for a group of people not only delegitimizes them, but also the president themself, who's supposed to represent America as a whole? It doesn't matter if you don't "believe it", it's a responsibility that the leader of our country is too lazy or callous to uphold.

In these times of increasing polarization, I would expect the president to at least pretend to try to mitigate it. Aside from the obvious examples of trump making things worse, he demonstrates that he wont even do the easy stuff. Thats how little he cares. Is this trumps ultimate "evil" action? No, of course not. But I will call it for what it is, a complete dick move.

[QUOTE=sgman91;52405864]Why does it need an excuse at all? IMO, it's pretty silly that non-Muslims celebrated a Muslim religious holiday in the first place. Tolerance is about letting people do what they want, not celebrating everything, even if you disagree with it.[/QUOTE] So by this logic a Muslim president would be total fine to simply ignore any Christian holidays and attend events solely for their own faith instead? If you are elected president the idea is to represent the people of a nation- not just yourself. You don't have to celebrate the holiday, attendance is merely acknowledgement of those who do.

[QUOTE=Trebgarta;52410035]It is just a dinner. Not even a special event like Easter or something. More like Correspondent's dinner probably. It was for the appreciation of the Muslim community and the cancellation in these turbulent times is even worse than cancelling it any other time. Courtesy for the minorities living in your country is important; remember black history month? This is just an evening in comparison. And nothing particularly special.[/QUOTE] We're talking about Eid, the final Iftar dinner at the end of Ramadan. It is most certainly a religious holiday in Islam, established by Muhammad. Assuming this is a normal Muslim Eid, then there will be Takbirs (Raising one's hand and yelling "Allahu Akbar") and a specific Eid Salat (Islamic Prayer). [editline]28th June 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=fulgrim;52411090]So by this logic a Muslim president would be total fine to simply ignore any Christian holidays and attend events solely for their own faith instead? If you are elected president the idea is to represent the people of a nation- not just yourself. You don't have to celebrate the holiday, attendance is merely acknowledgement of those who do.[/QUOTE] I already said that I wouldn't expect a non-Christian president to participate in Christian holidays. All I ask of my leaders and fellow citizens is tolerance and fairness under the law. I would rather them not pretend to care about my holidays. Just let me celebrate it in peace.

its his religious freedom to not celebrate it.