The Bible Is "Unclean"

Excerpt from this January 15, 2008 article in the UK's Daily Express, via this posting at Infidel Bloggers Alliance:

A MUSLIM store worker refused to serve a customer buying a children’s book on Christianity because she said it was “unclean”.

Shopper Sally Friday felt publicly humiliated at a branch of Marks & Spencer when she tried to pay for First Bible Stories as a gift for her young grandson.When she put the book on the check-out counter, the young assistant refused to touch it, declared it was unclean and summoned another member of staff to serve instead....

There's been an outcry, of course, and from several sides:

Last night politicians and religious leaders supported her in condemning the high street giant and reigniting the debate over religious beliefs in the workplace.

Conservative MP Philip Davies said the refusal to serve Mrs Friday, 69, was “unacceptable” and “damaging” to community relations.

Inayat Bunglawala, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, described the assistant’s comments as “offensive” and called for Marks & Spencer to carry out a thorough investigation.

The sensitivities of Muslim employees are not limited to Marks & Spencer:

Mrs Friday’s treatment is just the latest example of Muslim staff refusing to serve customers on religious grounds.

In October 2006, Lloyds chemist was forced to apologise to mother Jo-Ann Thomas after a Muslim pharmacist refused her a morning-after contraceptive pill on religious grounds in Rotherham.

A smoker was refused cigarettes at a Cambridge store in January last year because the Muslim shop assistant said it was against her religion to sell tobacco.

Islamic checkout staff at Sainsbury’s who refuse to sell alcohol are allowed to opt out of handling bottles and cans of drink by calling other staff to take their place.

Other staff have refused to work stacking shelves with wine, beer and spirits and have been found alternative roles in the company.

Odd that these incidents involving Muslims' sensitivities keep cropping up in Western countries: a UK dentist who refused to treat a female patient if she didn't wear a hijab, UK doctors demanding alcohol-free germicides, Minneapolis cab drivers who refuse to transport liquor in their taxis, a clerk who refused to check out bacon at her cash register in an American grocery store. A more detailed list is HERE, at The Amboy Times. And the list keeps growing.

Could it be that Muslim sensitivities are becoming more and more obvious because firm stands against such self-righteous behavior exhibited by some Muslim employees? Or is there another reason? As ever, I'm interested in your comments.

(Crossposted at THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS)