Is The Christian Taliban Now Tainting Sports?

New Mexico State star running back Muammar Ali was tagged by Sports Illustrated to be an up and comer. And why not? After all he led his team with 561 rushing yards last year. But as The Progressive Magazine reports, he won't get that chance because he and two other Muslim players were unceremoniously removed from the team. On October 9, he “received a message on his phone answering machine at his home that his jersey was being pulled and that he was released,” says a letter from his attorney, George Bach, of the ACLU of New Mexico, to the university. That letter, dated October 25, alleges that Head Coach Hal Mumme engaged in religious discrimination. “Coach Mumme questioned Mr. Ali repeatedly about Islam and specifically, its ties to Al-Qaeda,” the letter states. This made Mr. Ali uncomfortable, it says. And then, after the team’s first game, “despite being the star tailback for several years, Mr. Ali was relegated to fifth string and not even permitted to travel with the team,” the letter says. There are also other allegations against the coach. Apparently he also required his players to recite the Lord's Prayer after each practice and before every game. When Muammar and the two other Muslim players on the team prayed "in a manner different than the others", he was called into the coach's office where he was questioned about Al-Qaeda. When are people going to learn that you can be Muslim and not be connected in any way to a terrorist network? This is the same attitude that was present in Britain for so many years when they tied every Catholic with the IRA. That wasn't true then and this isn't true now. What it is, is another case of scapegoating. This time by an intolerant person who had the power to push his personal religious views on members of his football team. MORE.....