First it was pharmacists and the morning after pill. Now it's taxi drivers.

MINNEAPOLIS - Taxi drivers who refuse service to travelers carrying alcohol at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport face tougher penalties despite protests from Muslim cabbies who sought a compromise for religious reasons, officials said Monday.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission said new penalties were needed to ensure customers get safe and reliable taxi service, and voted to suspend a driver’s airport taxi license for 30 days for the first offense and revoke it for two years for a second offense. The new penalties take effect May 11.

Airport officials say more than 70 percent of the cabbies at the airport are Muslim, and many of them say Islamic law forbids them from giving rides to people carrying alcohol.

Under the old rules, a driver who refused to transport someone carrying alcohol would be told to go to the back of the taxicab line. Airport officials said that since January 2002, there have been more than 4,800 instances of drivers’ refusing to take alcohol-carrying travelers.

Commissioners said the old rules didn’t prevent customers from being stranded at the curb or — as reported in a few cases — dropped off before their destination after drivers learned of their alcohol on board.

Some Somalis who testified Monday urged commissioners to reject the new penalties and find some other solution.

“We see this as a penalty against a group of Americans only for practicing their faith,” said Hassan Mohamud, an imam and an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law.

The airport had proposed one pilot program that had drivers who wouldn’t transport alcohol display a different top light on their cab, but the public’s reaction was overwhelmingly negative and taxi drivers feared it would make travelers avoid taxis altogether.

Ridiculous. Archaic nonsense.

People need to get real and stop letting ancient religious beliefs interfere with other's rights.

People can go on and on all they want about "religious freedom" and whatever, but the bottom line is that alot of religious beliefs do infringe on other's rights, in this case the right to receive a taxi ride.

No, no one should be allowed to deny anyone anything based on a religious belief.

I've been thinking about this issue for awhile and I have come to believe that it is more complicated than it may initially appear. Certainly Christians want to be assured of certain personal rights which have to do with their freedom to worship their God and those of us who are atheists are anxious that all civil rights be left free and clear of any infringement by any type of religious belief. In theory the answer should be simple: devout folks practice their beliefs privately when amongst themselves. Public places, such as schools, are left neutral; prayer, for example, is an activity that can be contained to church and home, as indeed can all references to God.

Nevertheless, civilized western countries like to think that they are operating on rational and generous principles and that there is room for many different voices.

I initially found the Muslim cabbies to be hypocritical in their stand on transporting passengers carrying alcohol. This was not because they were refusing the booze but because they were refusing to have their cabs carry some sort of identifying insignia - the different top light in this case - which would indicate to potential clients that their cars were dry cars. I still think that the logic in their reply to this suggestion is bizarre, and am surprised that the public's reaction to this tidy idea was negative.

The only reason I can see for these cabbies being wary of being identifiable is that there is anti-Muslim sentiment which pervades much of Europe and America. Why buy further trouble, eh?

What I would advise doing in this situation is kinda simple: Most of us call it lying. Repeat after Green: No sir, I do not carry alcohol with me.

Honestly, I feel the same way about this that I do about the pharmasists; you took the job, do it. Almost more so in the case of cab drivers, because one of the uses for a cab you hear about alot is to drive someone home who's too drunk to drive.

The Muslim cab drivers are also refusing rides to people accompanied by dogs, even guide/service dogs, because they consider them to be "unclean."

Sunta said it all.

re: 'What I would advise doing in this situation is kinda simple: Most of us call it lying. Repeat after Green: No sir, I do not carry alcohol with me.'

so....you are advocating changing YOUR behavior to accommodate a religious belief? And the 98% of those cab-riders who aren't muslim should also lie?

Where does this lead?

No! My big mouth sarcastic tongue was firmly planted somewhere.....or other.

I am a vexed woman who often finds it difficult to steer a tidy course, one of being politickally sensitive and thus one of carefully demanding civil freedoms for my neighbours in these increasingly complicated times.

The truth is that the personal cranky runt of my own sweet self would like to tell these cabbies that they have chosen to a) opt to live in America and make their fortune by cabbying as a living. They have now chosen to set up caveats which would be functional had they either a) opted for another career path or chosen to live in an Islamic society.

The cranky Green would like to say this: When in Rome you must do as the Romans do; this means that you have made yer bed and now you must lie in it!

For the simple truth is this, it is true that those of us who live in the privileged countries and who do dress to the left, that is to say, those of us who are interested in you and who are anxious to welcome you into our home, still do feel that the care, engagement, respect and the love between us, the new-comer and the dreamy-eyed left-wing-nut, are going to have to meet, it's going to have to be a two-way street.

You have to remember that most of these cabbies are self-employed. They do not work for a cab company. They own their own cabs and this is their livelihood. So I say, if they are willing to give up all those fares, let them go to the back of the line and wait for a "dry" customer to come along. It can take HOURS, and that's their gripe. But it's also the most equitable solution, I think.

If you don't want me and my fifth of Mexican tequila in your cab, fine. But you don't get to sit there and interview one traveler after another, until you find one that suits you. Although I think it's perfectly okay to ask the fares to stow the liquor in the trunk.

Now see, that is the plan. If you work for your OWN company, you do what you want the company do todo.

IE, its your cab, you get to pick an choose who you want to do business with. (no pants no shoes no service)

You however are still responisble for paying your own mortgage, so dont complain to me if your standards prevent you from making enough money.

I think that the time for giving preference to people's religions in the workplace (other than holidays) needs to come to an end. Period. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, whatever. It's become ridiculous.

I am opposed to people who force their religion on others. Cab drivers are there to drive people to destinations. That's their job. If they don't want to do that job, quit. I also really despise pharmacists who refuse to sell women birth control pills. These pharmacists should probably own their own drug stores which explicitly state in their advertising that they will not sell birth control products. That can cut down on religious objections because many customers will not go there. If I owned a drug store and a pharmacist refused to fill a prescription on religious grounds, I would fire him/her. That interferes with the bottom line. If the cab drivers are self-employed and want to interfere with their own incomes, let them do it. But I agree with Carlene that they should immediately have to go to the end of the line and wait for an acceptable customer.l

The Muslim cab drivers are also refusing rides to people accompanied by dogs, even guide/service dogs, because they consider them to be "unclean."

Sunta said it all.

Can't blame them there.. everytime I let my dog in the car it's weeks before I get all the dog hair out and tounge stains off the window!:biggrin1:

Another thought... are there that many people leaving the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport with crateloads of alcohol? That's my kind of airport!

Are these open containers we're talking about? Just kidding.

We're telling Muslims they can live in this country and then we're telling them to compromise their beliefs because ours are different?

Clearly they should find another vocation, but they shouldn't be legally banned from being cabbies if they want to. However, if they are going to discriminate against people who carry alcoholic beverages (not medicinal alcohol, right?), they should disclose it in some way to the general cab riding public.

Live and let live. Sensible respect of everyone's rights - not just Muslims and not just non-Muslims.