Politically Correct in the United States

I went to the gym this morning and saw a Pentecostal woman using the treadmill in a long skirt down to her ankles. My first question was – is she aware that if her skirt got caught in the machinery, she could be thrown off the treadmill and injure herself, maybe badly? I know from first hand experience. I tripped on the treadmill, was tossed off the machine and landed about 4 feet from the back of it. It was painful. I can promise you I won’t do that again.  Besides that, the gym could be sued. There are signs all over the building requiring proper dress. There’s a reason for this. No one made this up because they wanted to offend you. They want to make you safe.

Driving home from the gym, I started to think about other religions who have strict rules about dress. I started to think about all the different waves of immigrants who came to the United States. My grandmother used to tell me how the next wave was hated by the others who were already here. In order to fit in, these immigrants assimilated themselves into society so the hate would die down and they could lead productive lives and have good neighbors. Whatever you did in private at home, was your own business. There is religious freedom in this country, but it doesn’t belong on the outside where you are encountering multiple cultures on a daily basis. There has to be some ground rules that are acceptable to all of us in order to get along. Our Bill of Rights clearly states separation of church and state. There is a very good reason for this. It stops people from killing each other in the name of God. You can’t and shouldn’t push your religion down someone else’s throat.

That’s not how it works.

So please, everybody, if you are going to live in this country, you are going to have to make many compromises. We all have. I have Muslim women friends who wear very modest clothing and I admire them for doing so. They fit into society and don’t wear black robes. I think the Pentecostal lady should wear pants at the gym. Is that too much to ask?