Do you get time off to pray four times a day?

The Dallas Morning News reports that "North Texas companies are increasingly making space for quiet rooms as Muslim employees play a larger role in the U.S. workplace and feel more secure about verbalizing their faith." Businesses nationwide, the article says, are seeing more and more religious discrimination charges. The most prevalent charges deal with time off for religious activities and wearing religious garb in the workplace.

Texas Instruments, American Airlines, Nortel, and Electronic Data Systems all have quiet rooms where their Muslim employees may go up to four times a day. However, that is not to say that companies providing prayer rooms are in the majority. Brian Mershon, a spokesman for Fluor Corporation, said they have not provided such rooms, but "if we had requests from Muslim employees or nursing mothers as well as any prayer room for employees, we would accommodate their requests."

I find that just a little hard to believe. If Mr. Mershon's Christian employees ask for a prayer room so they can go pray three times a day, I kind of doubt that will be granted. He would probably say, "Pray on your own time." I could be wrong now, but I don't think so.

On the other side of the coin, I can just imagine if a Christian employer provided a prayer room for his employees and placed Bibles there for their convenience. If he happened to employ an atheist or a Muslim, the atheist would file a discrimination suit saying the room made him uncomfortable, and religion was being pushed on him. And the Muslim would file charges on him for not placing the Koran there. Who do you think would win those suits? I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be the Christian.

While Muslims may feel more secure in "verbalizing their faith," goofball government rulings are making it more and more difficult for Christians to do the same.

"Area employers answer prayer room requests." The Dallas Morning News; August 2, 2008; p. 1A.