Berkeley, Calif., Jun 8, 2016 / 04:23 pm (CNA).- Two minutes and thirty seconds is all it took for Sean Bryan to complete the Los Angeles qualifier round of American Ninja Warrior.   The season eight premiere of the hit NBC/Esquire show – which follows competitors as they try to complete obstacles courses of increasing difficulty – featured the amateur flying through every obstacle. He even climbed the newly designed, 14.5-foot Warped Wall on his first try. Bryan claimed 4th place and ranked among the show’s veterans, but something else caught everyone’s attention. On Bryan’s bright, yellow shirt was written: ‘Papal Ninja’. “I thought, how could I be a bit more explicit about my faith,” Bryan told CNA, “because it is quite explicit in my life.” The 31-year-old is an active member of the Catholic Church. His story, and the mystery behind his chosen competition name, were highlighted on American Ninja Warrior this month. <blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:33.287037037% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BGNzFSAPbbk/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">"There's nothing so strong as gentleness, and nothing so gentle as true strength" (#FrancisDeSales). On this feast of the #SacredHeart, #BeCourageous in exercising strength through #mercy. #anw8training #ninjawarrior #anw8 #PapalNinja #firstfriday @franciscus</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by Sean Bryan (@papalninja) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-06-04T02:21:06+00:00">Jun 3, 2016 at 7:21pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script> The show explained Bryan’s history as a gymnast for the University of California, Berkley. While studying physics, Bryan competed mostly on parallel bars and rings. His team earned fifth place in the NCAA championship. It then revealed how Bryan discerned the priesthood with the Salesians of Don Bosco in California. Though Bryan discerned out, the episode showed how he stayed with the Salesians to finish his Masters in Theology with a Salesian Studies Concentration at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology. The episode followed Bryan, who has now earned the degree, as he continues to live with the Salesians and help them as an assistant to the director, and special projects manager. He even turned their garage into an American Ninja Warrior training facility. Bryan also owns his own freelance design and videography business and works as the project manager for the Lay Mission Project – an initiative by the Western Dominican province, Diocese of Sacramento, Catherine of Siena Institute, Institute of Salesian Studies, and Our Sunday Visitor – to form lay Catholics ‘for the sake of animating the mission of the Church to secular society.’ “The producers really took a liking to my story and they wanted to focus on the Catholic aspect,” Bryan said. “I totally went along with it because I thought it would be a great idea, because that’s really who I am at heart.” The Papal Ninja was raised Catholic. He grew up in Cranford, New Jersey and attended Catholic schools much of his life. “I didn’t really take faith seriously but I started exploring it the last three years of high school,” he said. Bryan said his faith life changed when the events of 9/11 and a friend’s death unfolded in the same year. With the help of his teachers and a local priest, Bryan was able to process everything and ask questions about the faith. After high school, Bryan attended Temple University. The same local priest that helped guide him in high school encouraged him to go on a retreat. “I decided that no, retreats are for Jesus freaks, so I’ll just start going to Mass.” Over time, Bryan said he started feeling more comfortable in his faith. He was on the gymnastics team at Temple University for two years before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley. “I saw it as a new beginning,” he said. “I made a new commitment to be myself and part of that is to not worry about what people think, to go to Mass, and to take my faith seriously.” When he finally decided to go on a retreat, Bryan said he was asked to help lead it. “I thought, woah, woah, woah, I’ve never been on a retreat before, let alone help lead one.” “That experience of ministering to people,” he said, “to see the reality, how faith is planning out people’s lives, really impacted me.” It was then that Bryan began to discern his vocation and thought God was calling him to the priesthood.   “I assumed that if God is giving me the gift of faith to dedicate my life to it, it’s probably the priesthood.” But after four years of formation with the Salesians, before making vows, Bryan decided religious life was not God’s call for him. While at the Dominican School, Bryan said Father Michael Sweeney O.P., the school’s president, helped him appreciate the importance of the lay role in the Church. Bryan began working on the Lay Mission Project.   Bryan’s family, friends, young people he mentored, and a few Salesians all watched him train for American Ninja Warrior and gave him advice. During the competition, they cheered him on until he hit the red buzzer. Sharing the moment with his parents, Bryan said, was the most special thing about the whole experience. They traveled from New Jersey to support him. During the course, Bryan said he just took each obstacle as it came and focused on what was next. Throughout training, he would integrate prayer into difficult activities, make the sign of the cross, ask for protections and strength, and pray to St. Frances de Sales for humility. “My friend Francis de Sales keeps me on point with respect to enjoying the process,” he said. When Bryan finished the actual course, he did a backflip and gave God the glory. “I realized, wow this really did just happen,” he said, “I pointed to the heavens thinking to myself, ‘thank you.’” Since the episode aired on June 1, Bryan said he has been receiving positive messages from both believers and non-believers. He said he hopes people see that they too can be alive in their faith and that it is not unusual. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JustLikeThat?src=hash">#JustLikeThat</a> The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PapalNinja?src=hash">#PapalNinja</a> has the faith, the action &amp; fastest time of the night so far on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericanNinjaWarrior?src=hash">#AmericanNinjaWarrior</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Awesome?src=hash">#Awesome</a> job!!</p>&mdash; TG2 - The Poet (@tg2_thepoet) <a href="https://twitter.com/tg2_thepoet/status/738178204922433536">June 2, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/papalninja?src=hash">#papalninja</a> got me praying <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AmericanNinjaWarrior?src=hash">#AmericanNinjaWarrior</a></p>&mdash; Cassie Reid (@ThisisCassReid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisisCassReid/status/738192862739759104">June 2, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/PapalNinja">@PapalNinja</a> Love that you're bring God in the convo for American Ninja Warrior! Keep on keeping on 🙂 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PapalNinja?src=hash">#PapalNinja</a></p>&mdash; Maria Gironas (@MariaGironas) <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaGironas/status/738223490180874240">June 2, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> “I hope they might be able to see faith as a normal thing,” he said, “as something that doesn’t cast you aside from society, but as a good thing.” When asked about the inspiration behind the Papal Ninja name, Bryan referenced the laity in paragraph 33 of Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. “The lay apostolate, however, is a participation in the salvific mission of the Church itself. Through their baptism and confirmation all are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself,” the document says. “We’re all called to be papal ninjas,” Bryan said, “to help accomplish the secular mission of the Church as a lay person.” Bryan said he will keep training and having fun in order to reach the end of American Ninja Warrior. Though he does not expect to win the million-dollar prize, he said that if he does, he would put the money towards paying off student debt, funding various projects and investing in men’s collegiate gymnastics. And what does the Papal Ninja think about Pope Francis? Bryan said it would be a great encouragement to hear from the Holy Father – on top of the greatness that is already available in the sacraments. Follow Bryan’s journey by liking ‘Papal Ninja’ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Read more

Washington D.C., Jun 8, 2016 / 03:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the death sentence of a man whom lawyers claim is intellectually disabled, in a case that could decide how states administer the death penalty. “We welcome the Supreme Court's decision to review the standard Texas has been wrongfully using to determine intellectual disability and eligibility for execution,” said Karen Clifton, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network. The organization is working with the U.S. bishops’ conference to end the use of the death penalty in the U.S. “It is important to protect the most vulnerable from this type of punishment but we look forward to the day when the death penalty is declared unconstitutional once and for all,” Clifton continued. The case, Moore v. Texas, is a challenge to the death sentence of Bobby James Moore, convicted in 1980 of robbing a grocery store and killing an employee, and convicted again in 2001 on a retrial. His lawyers say he is intellectually disabled by today’s medical standards. The Supreme Court, in its 2002 decision Atkins v. Virginia, had ruled that the death penalty for mentally retarded persons violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Court left the question of determining a convict’s intellectual capacity up to the states. Moore won in a state habeas court, which found that he was intellectually disabled and therefore unfit for the death penalty. However, Texas’ criminal appeals court then ruled that he should be judged by the medical standards of when he had been sentenced in his 2001 retrial, since the state’s legislature had not mandated that more recent guidelines be followed. Texas had followed 1992 standards from the then-American Association of Mental Retardation, by which Moore was deemed fit for the death penalty. In their petition for the Supreme Court to hear the case, Moore’s lawyers claimed that “applicable medical standards for diagnosing intellectual disability have changed since that time.” They cited a state habeas court that in 2014 had determined that his “mean fullscale IQ score of 70.66 is within the range of mild mental retardation as recognized by the American Association on Mental Retardation.” They added that “review is necessary to ensure that Moore – and many others like him – are not unlawfully executed.” According to Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, Moore’s case is not an isolated one. “There’s no question that states continue to execute people who have intellectual disability. It’s unconstitutional to do so, but they continue to do so,” he told CNA. Some states have controversial methods of determining a criminal’s intellectual capacity, according to the Catholic Mobilizing Network. Louisiana relies on elected judges to ultimately determine the question. States like Texas and Florida do not abide by the most recent medical standards to deem someone unfit for the death penalty. Georgia made headlines for multiple recent executions of men whom lawyers claimed had IQs of around 70, the threshold for determining mental retardation. The state also executed a Vietnam War veteran in 2015 who reportedly had PTSD. Georgia is the only state to require defendants to “prove ‘mental retardation’ beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In Hall v. Florida in 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the Florida Supreme Court, after it decided that someone with an IQ of 71 – one point above the threshold for mental retardation – could be eligible for the death penalty. The problem, Dunham said, is that there are three “prongs” used to determine one’s capacity, and IQ score is only part of the process. Furthermore, he added, someone’s IQ score is a “range” and not an exact determination. Studies have shown that various factors can affect the IQ score on tests, particularly those that have been in use for a while.   “When the IQ score can be the difference between life and death, setting 70 as an IQ cutoff will make it so that some people will not be diagnosed with intellectual disability simply because the year in which they took the test,” Dunham said. In their amicus brief for the 2000 death penalty case McCarver v. State of North Carolina, the United States Catholic Conference quoted from the Texas Catholic bishops, who in 1999 had spoken out against the death penalty, but specifically the execution of the intellectually disabled. “Mentally retarded persons by definition have sub-average intellectual functioning with concurrent deficits in socially adaptive behavior,” the bishops stated. “That is not to say such persons cannot tell right from wrong or should not be held responsible for criminal behavior. However, the death penalty is the most extreme sanction available to the state, and is therefore reserved for offenders who have the highest degree of blameworthiness for an extraordinarily aggravated crime.” “How can an individual who by definition is significantly intellectually impaired ever meet the highest standard of blame required for such a penalty?” they asked.   Read more

Washington D.C., Jun 8, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Deep in the heart of Texas, a campus chaplain is busy making his final spiritual and practical preparations for becoming a bishop. However, unlike many of his soon-to-be brother-bishops, Fr. David Konderla is carving his very own staff – or crosier – to signify his new position and duty as a teacher and head of a diocese. “Every Jedi has not completed his training until he’s made his own light saber that he uses to fight evil with – so this is my light saber,” Bishop-elect David Konderla told CNA in an interview. On June 29, Fr. David Konderla will be ordained and installed as the Bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Currently, the Bishop-elect serves as the Director of Campus Ministry for St. Mary’s Catholic Center, the campus chaplaincy for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A crosier is a hooked staff – based on the shape of a shepherd's staff – carried by bishops in the Catholic Church to symbolize their pastoral function in the Church. Other important symbols of a bishop’s position are the pectoral cross worn on a bishop’s chest, the mitre- or hat, and the episcopal ring. “Of course it was natural when I found out I was going to be made a bishop that I would want to make my own myself,” Fr. Konderla said. He noted that he's already made four crosiers in the past for his soon-to-be brother bishops: Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico; Bishop George Sheltz, Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas; Bishop Mark Joseph Seitz of El Paso, Texas; and Bishop Daniel Garcia, Auxiliary Bishop of Austin, Texas. Bishop-elect Konderla’s own crosier will be the fifth he'll construct. Previously, Fr. Konderla has used wood that bears special significance to the bishop-elect in constructing the crosier. For instance, when making the crosier for Bishop Seitz, Fr. Konderla used the wood from the front yard of the rectory at St. Mary's Catholic Center, where they were both serving as priests at the time. For his own crosier, the bishop-elect will be able to take a bit of the campus’s Catholic Center with him as well: he said he was able to use trees which were taken down to build the campus’s new student center in his own staff. “I was able to incorporate some of that wood into this crosier so it will have that special meaning.” The bottom sections of the crosier will be detachable so the staff can fit easily into a traveling case. This part of the staff’s construction was relatively simple, forming the pieces by turning the rod on a lathe to cut and shape it. However, forming the crosier’s hook is a more involved process he said.. To start the hook’s formation, the bishop-elect took thinly-sliced strips of wood, called laminations, and placed them in a steam box powered by the steam from a tea kettle on his stovetop. Once the strips were softened by the steam, the laminations can be shaped by quickly bending them around a form and left to cool, he elaborated. After cooling, these strips can maintain their shape long enough to be glued together with other bent wood strips, in order to finish the shaping process. This block of molded strips of laminate is called a blank, Fr. Konderla continued, an “ugly” square piece of wood. However, this shaped block of wood is what will then be whittled and smoothed into its final, hooked, form. The bishop-elect is also using the same process to create rings, or “beads” of different-colored woods to decorate the staff of the crosier. The beads on the crosier will be made of three strips of different-colored woods, an element which Konderla sees as “representing the trinity.” After all the pieces are carved and shaped, the staff will be stained and polished, resulting in its final form. Bishop-elect Konderla’s episcopal ring will also have a special meaning, and the soon-to-be bishop will also have a hand in making it. His youngest brother is a jeweler, Konderla and together the pair designed a ring based on St. Pope John Paul II’s fisherman’s ring. The ring will also incorporate elements from Konderla’s devotions to the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy and Mary, as well as gold from their mother’s wedding ring. The bishop-elect’s brother has made a model of the ring, and next will make a mold that will be filled with the gold. Then, Fr. Konderla explained, his brother will add final touches such as adding the heart-shaped stone and carving elements into the ring. Fr. Konderla said that he sees this project of creating his own crosier fitting and reflective of the beauty God creates in the world.   “Art is expressive of the divine,” and woodwork in particular is an art form that must respect God’s own beautiful creations, he said. “The nice thing about working in wood is that even a dead tree, in a way is a living medium. The wood does simply do whatever you want, but you have to cooperate with the kind of medium that it is.” While the creation of the crosier might be one of the last woodworking projects he creates before his ordination, Bishop-elect Konderla looks forward to taking his love of woodworking with him to his new residence in Tulsa. He said he’s already visited his new residence, and was happy to see that it has a two-car garage – just large enough to fit his woodworking workshop. Read more

Washington D.C., Jun 8, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Deep in the heart of Texas, a campus chaplain is busy making his final spiritual and practical preparations for becoming a bishop. However, unlike many of his soon-to-be brother-bishops, Fr. David Konderla is carving his very own staff – or crosier – to signify his new position and duty as a teacher and head of a diocese. “Every Jedi has not completed his training until he’s made his own light saber that he uses to fight evil with – so this is my light saber,” Bishop-elect David Konderla told CNA in an interview. On June 29, Fr. David Konderla will be ordained and installed as the Bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Currently, the Bishop-elect serves as the Director of Campus Ministry for St. Mary’s Catholic Center, the campus chaplaincy for Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A crosier is a hooked staff – based on the shape of a shepherd's staff – carried by bishops in the Catholic Church to symbolize their pastoral function in the Church. Other important symbols of a bishop’s position are the pectoral cross worn on a bishop’s chest, the mitre- or hat, and the episcopal ring. “Of course it was natural when I found out I was going to be made a bishop that I would want to make my own myself,” Fr. Konderla said. He noted that he's already made four crosiers in the past for his soon-to-be brother bishops: Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico; Bishop George Sheltz, Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas; Bishop Mark Joseph Seitz of El Paso, Texas; and Bishop Daniel Garcia, Auxiliary Bishop of Austin, Texas. Bishop-elect Konderla’s own crosier will be the fifth he'll construct. Previously, Fr. Konderla has used wood that bears special significance to the bishop-elect in constructing the crosier. For instance, when making the crosier for Bishop Seitz, Fr. Konderla used the wood from the front yard of the rectory at St. Mary's Catholic Center, where they were both serving as priests at the time. For his own crosier, the bishop-elect will be able to take a bit of the campus’s Catholic Center with him as well: he said he was able to use trees which were taken down to build the campus’s new student center in his own staff. “I was able to incorporate some of that wood into this crosier so it will have that special meaning.” The bottom sections of the crosier will be detachable so the staff can fit easily into a traveling case. This part of the staff’s construction was relatively simple, forming the pieces by turning the rod on a lathe to cut and shape it. However, forming the crosier’s hook is a more involved process he said.. To start the hook’s formation, the bishop-elect took thinly-sliced strips of wood, called laminations, and placed them in a steam box powered by the steam from a tea kettle on his stovetop. Once the strips were softened by the steam, the laminations can be shaped by quickly bending them around a form and left to cool, he elaborated. After cooling, these strips can maintain their shape long enough to be glued together with other bent wood strips, in order to finish the shaping process. This block of molded strips of laminate is called a blank, Fr. Konderla continued, an “ugly” square piece of wood. However, this shaped block of wood is what will then be whittled and smoothed into its final, hooked, form. The bishop-elect is also using the same process to create rings, or “beads” of different-colored woods to decorate the staff of the crosier. The beads on the crosier will be made of three strips of different-colored woods, an element which Konderla sees as “representing the trinity.” After all the pieces are carved and shaped, the staff will be stained and polished, resulting in its final form. Bishop-elect Konderla’s episcopal ring will also have a special meaning, and the soon-to-be bishop will also have a hand in making it. His youngest brother is a jeweler, Konderla and together the pair designed a ring based on St. Pope John Paul II’s fisherman’s ring. The ring will also incorporate elements from Konderla’s devotions to the Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy and Mary, as well as gold from their mother’s wedding ring. The bishop-elect’s brother has made a model of the ring, and next will make a mold that will be filled with the gold. Then, Fr. Konderla explained, his brother will add final touches such as adding the heart-shaped stone and carving elements into the ring. Fr. Konderla said that he sees this project of creating his own crosier fitting and reflective of the beauty God creates in the world.   “Art is expressive of the divine,” and woodwork in particular is an art form that must respect God’s own beautiful creations, he said. “The nice thing about working in wood is that even a dead tree, in a way is a living medium. The wood does simply do whatever you want, but you have to cooperate with the kind of medium that it is.” While the creation of the crosier might be one of the last woodworking projects he creates before his ordination, Bishop-elect Konderla looks forward to taking his love of woodworking with him to his new residence in Tulsa. He said he’s already visited his new residence, and was happy to see that it has a two-car garage – just large enough to fit his woodworking workshop. Read more

Brooklyn, N.Y., Jun 7, 2016 / 04:49 pm (CNA).- A swimming pool in New York City has recently come under fire for its women-only swimming hours. The policy was put in place to allow Hasidic Jewish women in the area, whose religion forbids them to swim with men, a chance to use the pool on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, and Sunday afternoons. Although the Brooklyn pool has kept some women-only hours since the 1990s, the practice only came to the attention of the wider public when someone complained about it to the city's Commission on Human Rights, the Associated Press reports. Critics suggest the policy could be a violation of the establishment clause or of the city's human rights law, which bans sex discrimination in public accommodations. Dr. Daniel I. Mark, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Villanova University, said the women-only hours seem like a reasonable accommodation. “It’s not a violation of the separation of church and state, it’s not promoting any religion, even in the most expansive definition of that constitutional prohibition,” Mark told CNA. “The flip side is I don’t think anybody’s freedom of religion entitles them to such an accommodation, but I think it’s probably the right thing for the local government to do that seems perfectly appropriate,” he added. Swimming pool staffers told the AP they announced that the women-only hours would discontinue in June, but they received so many complaints that they decided to keep the schedule while the policy was under review. Mark said unless the policy was putting an extreme burden on other municipal resources, the pool is likely not violating the establishment clause in the United States Constitution. “To make room for people to enjoy, on an equal basis, a state or local amenity is certainly not a promotion of that religion,” he said. “It’s not that they’re entitled to it, probably, but assuming that it’s not a great burden on the fellow citizens and assuming that the other fellow citizens are people of goodwill, then I think we should all be very glad to (accommodate them).” Such reasonable accommodations exist in other areas of civic life, Mark noted. For example, many public parks that advertise specific hours for children accompanied by adults, during which adults without children are not allowed to be at the park. Some playgrounds do not allow for adults without children to be there at all, for the safety of children. “You can say of course that’s a burden on adults who happen to be free during the day and want to enjoy the park recreationally at that time, but it’s something that we as a society think is a good way to accommodate our fellow citizens with different needs,” he said. “Not everybody has kids, not everybody cares about this, but it’s just reasonable.” Furthermore, it’s not just Hasidic Jewish women who are allowed swim during the women-only hours. The pool staff told the AP that Muslim women also take advantage of the hours, and it’s likely that women who would just prefer not to swim with men also enjoy the policy, Mark said. “If it’s overwhelmed the schedule to the point where your average American family can’t get time at the pool because everything is special hours for x, special hours for y, special hours for z, then it would be a problem,” he said. Mark also noted that the critics cite two different possible complaints - separation of church and state and sex discrimination - making it unclear who exactly was unduly burdened by the policy to the point that they felt it necessary to complain. “What is your complaint here? Or do you just not like these people because they’re religious and you’re just kind of grasping at straws looking for anything that you can say that will get them out of the pool?” he said. “We would all be better off living in society looking at how we could make room for each other, instead of looking at how we can crowd each other out by claiming that the behavior that we don’t prefer is a violation of our rights.” Read more