Monday, December 04, 2006

Flying Muslims

Yeah, but not on a red carpet. This article is entitled "Muslims Seek Prayer Room in Airport."

What bothers me the most about this headline is that anyone who has searched out the chapels in airport knows that they are used by Muslims. How do we know this? There's a huge arrow pointing East in the guestbooks. I have been to the airport chapels in Chicago (O'Hare, not Midway), Philadelphia, Dallas, Newark and others.

To find the chapel is usually a hassle. You have to find a comprehensive map of the entire airport. Its usually in a Mezzanine somewhere that is impossible to drag your thousand pounds of luggage to. Sometimes - notably in Dallas - it's outside security. So, if you have a layover, you might exit to use the chapel, and then wait in the security line for an hour, possibly missing your flight.

I once had to go to Mass in an airport to fulfill my Sunday obligation just before jumping on a plane to go to Ireland. Afterwards, the priest had snacks and drinks laid out for the travellers while he chatted with us. It was very nice, and I got the impression that not too many people attend Mass here.

Oftentimes, the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in these airports as well, so its always a good idea to go pay a visit to a tabernacle that is little-visited.

Back to the Muslims - this story is just another example of a marketing campaign to draw the Muslims in a sympathetic light and painting them as victims.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dallas is big enough that I am sure there are multiple chapels, but the one that I have been to was inside security. I believe it was in the Northwest and possibly Frontier terminal. It did not have a tabernacle.

Petrus said...

I don't know how many there are, but I distinctly remember having to go to a separate terminal in Dallas than the airline I was flying... because I had a first class ticket (only time in my life!) and was able to get back to my gate with relatively little time delay. They have a security gate JUST FOR FIRST CLASS!!!

M. Alexander said...

You have to read Ann Coulter's essay on flying muslims!