Should the NY Mosque be built within the close proximity to Ground Zero? Should women be allowed to wear religious head wraps to work? Should women be allowed into professional male athletes' locker rooms to conduct interviews? Should college athletes be paid for their athletic services or otherwise be entitled to receive gifts/etc while at school?
Interestingly, what is legally right or politically correct does not always jive with what is morally or ethically correct, given particular circumstances. Our founding forefathers believed that property rights were sacred; that while the government could impose certain taxes to secure government revenue, a person's property was sacred and that person could use the property for his quiet enjoyment. Now, of course there were/remain exceptions, such as when the enjoyment is not quiet - which means, simply, that the use of a particular property disrupts the use of someone else's property. I don't think, on its own, the construction of a mosque does anything to disrupt any other person's use of his or her property. In other words, the current owner of the property has the legal right to build the mosque at that location. But, should he in light of the circumstances? I believe that the owner should not build the mosque at that location due to the obvious facts surrounding that location, at least not at this time.
Should women or men be allowed to wear religious head wraps at work? This time, there is a political right - the right of religious freedom - to do so. However, our society has limited such right when it interferes with the job's duties. A woman would likely not be able to wear a wrap and perform firefighting duties, but could perform legal duties as an attorney. What if the President of the US wore a head wrap because of his religious views? I cannot imagine anyone having any rational dispute with this. So, in this case, I do not see a moral issue, but rather an employer concern over how a job is performed, and whether the religious requirements would hinder the performance of that job.
Should a woman be refused entry into a male locker room? Should a man be refused entry into a female locker room? Legally, if one gender is allowed into the locker room, then the other gender should have equal access. This turns on the ability to obtain stories/interviews equally. It is both legal and politically correct. Morally however, I think there is an issue. Locker rooms are often hallowed ground ... at least they used to be. More and more, there are press rooms off to the side, but cameras have infiltrated the locker room area in most sports. The question is whether this places the interviewer or the player(s) at a disadvantage that could create a question as to whether conduct was appropriate. If a player drops his towel, showing his birth beauty, does that create an issue if a reporter is in the room? I don't know. I do know this, however: most news agencies place a male in a male locker room, a female in a female locker room; not always, but often. The rationale is that improprieties between genders are more likely to occur than between persons of the same gender (a Pittsburgh quarterback comes to mind). Prevention before reaction.
Finally, should a college athlete be entitled to accept gifts for his play? Legally, the answer is no. College sports have always been deemed amateur sporting events; thus, there is a prohibition against a player's receiving anything of value in exchange for his continued services. However, is a "reward" for those services or a gift resulting from those services considered compensation??? Compensation is value received in consideration of the promise to perform services. It is earned upon the completion of the services. However, if it is not promised in exchange of those services, it is a gift. Should gifts be allowed? A gift is something that is given without consideration provided by the receiver. The receiver need not perform anything to receive the gift. So, if an agent gives a college athlete a car for his family's use during his school years, without the promise by that athlete that he will utilize that agent's services upon completion of school, that is a gift.
Is the gift legal? I think it should be, though presently it is not. More on this to come soon.
In the meantime, ... Have a Great Day!
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