Monday, November 15, 2010

Do Some People Get Separate Laws?

In Oklahoma, the very heart of the USA, a lawsuit has been filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).  This lawsuit seeks to strike down a majority vote that prevents international and Sharia law from being considered in court cases involving Muslim defendants.  Seventy percent of Oklahomans voted against this measure deciding that U.S. laws were good enough for all involved.  CAIR has filed a lawsuit to reverse this majority decision saying the decision made by the voters is discrimination against Muslims and will lead to outlawing mosques, Muslim garb and even the Quran.
Sharia law is written by Muslims to govern the Muslim religion and way of life.  It allows Muslim men the right to beat their wives and children, allows honor killings of family members who somehow dishonor the family (even as little as a daughter talking to a non-Muslim boy) and allows killing of infidels; non-believers.  These are laws we do not need in our justice system.  If we make allowances for this type of “discipline” within the America Muslim community, what’s next?  We won’t even allow polygamy that is practiced in the Mormon religion yet Muslims want Sharia law to govern them?  I think not.
There are a lot of allegations of racism, bigotry and hatred when it comes to Muslims and the overall feelings Westerners have about them these days.  It’s sometimes difficult to explain adequately how you can distrust someone based on their religious beliefs and not be a bigot, yet it is possible.  I don’t hate Muslims.  I don’t dislike Muslims.  I’m not even sure I know anyone who is truly a Muslim except some inmates in Federal prison who converted to a version of Islam while incarcerated.  Some of them I know well.  And while I have no trust of those particular Muslims, it’s certainly not because of their religious beliefs but because they are convicted criminals and I was a corrections professional.   It had nothing to do with religious beliefs.
I do not trust Islam as a whole but it has to do with the actions and inactions of Islam as a whole rather than the actions of a few.  Granted, most Muslims in the world do not participate in the violent acts being committed by Muslim extremists around the world today.  The problem is, Islam as a whole refuses to stand up against the radical extremists.  Some quietly condemn it but very few openly and publicly stand up and say “This is wrong and it needs to stop.”  Even if their protests against the violence won’t stop it, they could make a great impression on those of us who are not Muslim and help us to understand that not everyone who worships Allah wants the infidels, us non-believers, dead.
As I mentioned before, Sharia law allows men to beat their wives and children “if necessary” to control them.  A Muslim man in New Jersey was found not guilty of sexually assaulting his wife because, even though a trial judge found as a fact that defendant committed conduct that constituted a sexual assault, he (the judge) did not hold the defendant liable because the defendant believed he was exercising his rights over the victim.
This case was eventually overturned by an appeals court and the man was found guilty of the crime.  However, if local judges and Magistrates are going to allow and excuse violence against women and children because Sharia law allows it, where are we headed?
It’s time for the people of this country and our elected officials to declare, once and for all, that America will be governed by our Constitution and not by Sharia or international law.  The “new world order” that wants one giant world conglomeration needs to be stopped.  This world is made up of different cultures and different beliefs.  That’s why there are so many different countries.  Those differences need to be embraced and maintained.  Crossing borders to visit is great.  Immigrating to another country is fine too as long as it’s done legally.  But visiting, or immigrating to another country and expecting them to change their laws for you is wrong.  It shouldn’t be expected and it definitely should not be done.  And it should not be done here.

1 comment:

  1. That Sharia law even has to be discussed as a possibility in this country, shows far far down we have gone. That is a shame, and I feel we will be held accountable for any leeway we give this religion of "peace".

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