Prayer rooms at football stadiums

[dilbadoon]

Originally Posted by BlueDevil

I am largely in agreement with you on this. However it could be considered that the money the AFL have is in effect 'public' money in that it comes from the pockets of the supporters. Ultimately the more money the AFL (or any other sporting body) spend on uneccesary features like prayer rooms the higher ticket prices are likely to be. I don't think people would mind paying a little extra on their tickets to have upgraded toilets but prayer rooms...maybe not

That would be a bit of a long bow to draw IMO. The money you pay for a ticket to an AFL game is about as public as the money you give to Woolies or Coles or etc. for your groceries. They are private companies who will operate in whatever way they think will be most productive to increasing revenue. If them providing a prayer room bothers people that much, the option is clear, don't give them your money. It obviously isn't an essential service so if people are opposed to where your money is going, let your dollars do the talking so to speak. There are other codes of sport that don't provide prayer rooms (yet) .

[owheelj]

I agree Dilbadoon. I would add that I think it's likely that corporations like the Melbourne Cricket Club (who operate the MCG) are presumably making a business decision here, where they think, probably based on economic modelling, that making their business more appealing to a particular demographic will earn them more money than if they didn't take that action. It always seems more likely to me that businesses make decisions in order to make money, than out of the goodness of their hearts, even when they pretend otherwise (see all those environmental books - Natural Capitalism, The Necessary Revolution, Ecological Intelligence etc.). If this is their reasoning, presumably ticket prices won't go up because of this.

[BlueDevil]

Originally Posted by dilbadoon

That would be a bit of a long bow to draw IMO. The money you pay for a ticket to an AFL game is about as public as the money you give to Woolies or Coles or etc. for your groceries.

I mean public money in the sense that it comes out of the pockets of the general public.

I said earlier in the thread:

I guess it is hard to deny people the right to spend private money on prayer rooms.

I am just thinking that we should keep in mind that 'private' money is ultimately coming from paying customers. Sure, the AFL can spend their money however they like but I reckon the majority of their supporters would prefer toilets to prayer rooms.

I'm not trying to make any sort of big issue out of this, just making a minor point.

[dilbadoon]

Originally Posted by BlueDevil

I mean public money in the sense that it comes out of the pockets of the general public.

I said earlier in the thread:

I am just thinking that we should keep in mind that 'private' money is ultimately coming from paying customers. Sure, the AFL can spend their money however they like but I reckon the majority of their supporters would prefer toilets to prayer rooms.

I'm not trying to make any sort of big issue out of this, just making a minor point.

Sorry BD, I think I took your comment in the wrong light, but I did not mean anything against you. I think this just seems like the kind of issue that would be a prime target for the "today tonights". I don't like it particularly, and to me it is a complete waste of money, but I guess this is one of those issues where we all have to decide if we are just atheists, or atheists and anti-theists.

[Centauri]

I stepped into the prayer room at the GAC convention centre. There were two rooms, and nobody was in there, which makes sense given the occasion. The carpeted room contained 3 or 4 muslim prayer mats and a table holding a few korans. Next to it was some sort of wash room with taps and drainage.

It felt creepy. I had to get the fuck outta there. It reminded me of the mosque I visited in Indonesia, where the men sat up front and the women were forced to pray at the back, behind a giant sheet so that they were shunned from the sight of the men. Fuck that shit