All Americans Have Equal Opportunity, But Some Americans Have More Equal Opportunity Than Others

The paraphrase of Orwell's memorable line in Animal Farm occurred to me when reading this:

A federal jury in Peoria, Ill., has awarded $240,000 to two Somalian-American Muslims who were fired from their jobs as truck drivers at Star Transport, an over-the-road trucking company, when they refused to transport alcohol because it violated their religious beliefs, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which brought the case. The trial started on Oct. 19, and the jury returned its verdict the next day after 45 minutes of deliberation.  

Judge James E. Shadid, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, found in favor of EEOC after Star Transport admitted liability in March 2015. The resulting trial was to determine compensatory and punitive damages and back pay. The jury awarded Mahad Abass Mohamed and Abdkiarim Hassan Bulshale $20,000 each in compensatory damages and $100,000 each in punitive damages. Judge Shadid awarded each approximately $1,500 in back pay….  

"EEOC is proud to support the rights of workers to equal treatment in the workplace without having to sacrifice their religious beliefs or practices," said EEOC General Counsel David Lopez. "This is fundamental to the American principles of religious freedom and tolerance."

To paraphrase another famous line, this one Patrick Henry's: Give me liberty to practice sharia on my own terms, or pay me off big time with the tribute money (jizya) I'm owed, dhimmi. 

Okay, maybe it lacks the succinctness, the impassioned zing of the original, but I think it captures the essence of the situation.