Hijab Wearing Teens Have Restored My Faith In Humanity

This week I got special permission to write about an article that isn't about Judaism, because I found one specific one (still about a religion, just not ours) that truly restored at least a small portion of my faith in humanity. It was about the issue of whether Muslim girls should be allowed to wear a hijab while playing sports. What I read astounded me. First off, it was only this year that FIFA lifted its ban on headscarves. It took until March of 2014 for them to stop discriminating against an entire religion's worth of soccer players. Second, even after this decision was handed down, a school team still refused to allow one of their girls to play with a headscarf. Now, I might understand them not following the big league's rules if it wasn't for religious purposes, but for some Muslim girls, telling them that they may not play with a hijab is as good as telling them that they may not play at all. This girl, Samah Aidah, is one of those girls, apparently. Her teammates, instead of standing by and having someone fill in for her like you would expect, decided to do their part in coming to defence of their wronged teammate.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. The entire team wore headscarves for their next game. Amazing, isn't it?
I absolutely love how these girls, who are mine and my friends' age, managed to not only let go of any and all prejudice and form their own adult opinions, but also work together and actively support their friend. Not many people would willingly don an article of clothing that is such a classifier, in this climate. And the very fact that they felt bothered enough by the injustice to stand up for their friend's right to religious freedom shows a special kind of integrity not often found in American teenagers. On the flip side, I think it's just sad that these girls had to resort to this. Why were they put in this situation? Because their coach couldn't let go of that same prejudice and be a decent human being. So over all, huge win for the girls, but major disappointment in the Responsible Adult department.

The article that I read can be found here.