USA Today: Sharia doesn’t pose a threat to America

Bend over and pass the vaseline: it won’t hurt a bit! It will only help to fundamentally transform America, forever!

States cracking down on the Islamic law misunderstand the right to freedom of religion.

thomas sharia

USA Today/ December 11. 2012 - Iconic poet Carl Sandburg once was asked what was the dirtiest word in the English language. His answer might have surprised some people: Exclusive.

The tendency to exclude others — to prejudge and ostracize — has dogged humankind and the United States since its inception. The first Jews to arrive in New York, then caled New Amsterdam, were refused the right even to get off their ship. When Gov. Peter Stuyvesant’s Dutch sponsors prevailed upon him to grant the Jews admission, they still weren’t allowed to vote, hold office or serve in the militia.

Throughout America’s rich history of welcoming “your huddled masses,” this dark thread of bigotry has marred our national tapestry. First, it was Jews, then blacks, Catholics, gays, and now, Muslims who must sometimes bear the brunt of our prejudices.

Small wonder. At one time, “exclusivity” was official government policy. In colonial Virginia, for example, one had to be a white, male, property-owning Episcopalian to enjoy the full benefits of citizenship. Even today, citizens can lapse into thinking that “America” has something to do with the color of my skin, where I go to worship or which language I speak.

No American religion

Being American is about none of these things. It is about the principles and ideals set forth in our Bill of Rights. Yet even a nation founded on the premise that “all men are created equal” can find itself slipping into these old patterns of prejudice and bigotry. The trauma of 9/11 and the fear that it triggered created the opportunity for such feelings to resurface.

Just look at what’s happening. There has been widespread resistance to the construction of mosques and Islamic centers. The Pew Research Center cited 53 casesin recent years. Even last summer’s attack on Sikhs appears to have been motivated by misdirected anti-Muslim bias. And it’s not just the rank and file. More than a dozen states have passed or are considering anti-sharia laws. Oklahoma has amended its constitution.

And what is sharia but the way Muslims must live and work? Drawn from the Quran, the directions of the prophet Mohammed and the teaching of Muslim scholars, sharia is prayer and fasting, work and worship, family. One cannot be a Muslim without practicing some form of sharia. Outlaw sharia and you’ve outlawed 5 million to 8 million Americans. Like the Bible and other sacred texts, sharia is always subject to interpretation, so shariadoes have a dark side. In Egypt’s new constitution, to be voted on in the coming days, Islamic religious law is used as the basis for restricting fundamental rights for women and children.

Threatening Islamic law?

But is sharia a threat to America’s legal system? The Constitution prohibits courts or other government agencies from substituting religious law for civil law. The government may not compel adherence to the practices of any faith, including Islam.

Now comes an encouraging development. A coalition of more than 20 national groups — including the Interfaith Alliance, Islamic Society of North America and a bevy of church groups — recently released a set of consensus guidelines entitled “What is the truth about American Muslims?” The pamphlet includes interesting history, including the story of how Muslims first came to the USA. Most, as it turns out, came aboard slave ships. There is information about sharia law, jihad, head coverings, honor killings and the Quran. Fascinating stuff. Kudos to the Interfaith Alliance and the Religious Freedom Education Project of the First Amendment Center for pulling this off. (Learn more atreligiousfreedomeducation.org.)

The need to resist bigotry in all its forms is not just about being nice. It’s about making America work. Without equal protection and the free exercise of religion, there is no America. It’s who we are.

Oliver Thomas is a Baptist minister, attorney and member of the USA TODAY Board of Contributors.

Hamas-linked CAIR fighting Michigan anti-Sharia bill

Hamas-linked CAIR and other Islamic supremacist groups have consistently and successfully argued that anti-Sharia laws would infringe upon Muslims’ religious rights. They still make headway using that argument with judges and lawmakers who are ignorant of the nature of Sharia.

In reality, no one cares about individual Muslim religious practice or wants to restrict it. The purpose of anti-Sharia laws is not to stop Muslims from getting married in Islamic religious ceremonies or to restrict their religious practice in other ways, but to stop the political and supremacist aspects of Islam that infringe upon the rights and freedoms of non-Muslims, denying the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law. This is the case that must be made, but it still hasn’t been.

Also, Goodman doesn’t tell you, of course, that the Justice Department named Hamas-linked CAIR an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case. Nor does he mention that CAIR operatives have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. He says nothing about how several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. Nor does he mention that CAIR’s cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Ibrahim Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements, or that itsCalifornia chapter distributed posters telling Muslims not to talk to the FBI.

“Muslim rights group urges bill in Michigan Legislature be stopped,” by David N. Goodman for the Associated Press, December 12 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

A Muslim rights group has urged Gov. Rick Snyder to veto legislation designed to block the use of Islamic law in the state, should the bill reach his desk.A House bill to bar use of “foreign laws that would impair constitutional rights” was on Tuesday’s House agenda. Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, sponsored the bill, which doesn’t specifically mention the Islamic legal code sharia. However, the bill’s supporters have said they are concerned about the use of sharia spreading.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether a vote would be taken before the lame-duck session ends. Lawmakers have said they would like to wrap up by Thursday, and they spent Tuesday on approving divisive right-to-work bills that bar unions from collecting mandatory fees from workers they represent.

Agema did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment on the bill’s status.

The [Hamas-linked] Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement criticizing what it called an “anti-Islam bill” and urged that it be rejected.

The group said it “is calling on all people of conscience to urge Gov. Snyder to veto the biased bill, which is among those that seek to impose government-sanctioned discrimination on followers of a minority faith.”

At least 20 states have considered similar measures, and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback signed one into law in May.

“It’s our hope that this bill doesn’t make it all the way to the governor,” Dawud Walid, executive director of the council’s Michigan chapter, said. “But if it does, we sincerely hope that he will veto this bigoted bill.”

Messages seeking comment were left with the governor’s office Tuesday.

Walid said that aside from undermining the rights and well-being of Muslims, the bill creates an atmosphere unfriendly to international investment and the immigration of people who can promote Michigan’s economic development.

Supporters have cited 50 appellate cases in 23 states that involve conflicts between sharia law and U.S. state laws, including foreign judgments on divorces and child custody that were allowed to stand. The cases they cite do not include any in Michigan.

In May, the Catholic Conference said it strongly opposes the bill because it would likely affect the application of Catholic canon law, the judicial structure governing the church.

Their opposition is entirely wrongheaded. The bill prohibits the use of foreign law that is at variance with Constitutional rights. Catholic canon law isn’t. So it wouldn’t apply to it.

{ 3 comments }

Oswald December 15, 2012 at 4:39 am: Most muslims came on slave ships. Maybe it was Arab slavers delivering their cargo to the US.
virginia dares to see you December 15, 2012 at 6:05 am: Sharia does not pose a threat to the US? Well now, are we so sure about that one? It was months ago that 58 congressmen out of over five hundred men on the hill, when asked to vote if they ever thought we could have sharia law here, said no. And this means what?

It means that over 400 of the remaining congressmen are either pathetically stupid, or lack balls, or have no clues about sharia law. Take your pick. Oh, I forgot one other reason…some of these guys have been given the free trips to Istanbulsht where they are wined and dined..not so sure about the ‘wine’ part, but you get the picture. It’s called ‘make nice nice’ with the americans before we fatten them up for the slaughter.

Do you wear a hijab? It means no patdown for you at the airport. And there is no sharia yet? How about those whackjob american doctors who are acquiesing to female genital mutilation for muslim families?

As for sharia finance, the camel has his stinking nose under the tent already guys…loads of embedded sharia financing in our biggest banks and investment companies. And you think that dirty man Bin Laden didn’t know what he was talking about after 9/11 when he predicted that america would suffer greatly in economic terms? All part and post of the same sharia sheista..then count in those marxist college professors alongside dimwit feminists and the numbers go up.

Those charter schools all over the country that are pushing arab language onto american students..no connection to sharia and/or a push into islam? Think again. The pope and the college of cardinals recently gave credence to islam and sharia scaring shiiitte out of me!
Uncle Vladdi December 16, 2012 at 5:26 am: Contrary to the clear and unwavering tenets of the Qur’an, ahadith, sirat, Tabari histories and five maddhab fiqhs of sharia crime (“law,”) there is actually no justification under any circumstances for denying anyone equality of rights before the law or for attacking innocent people.

And a forced faith isn’t a “faith” at all – it’s only extortion. Extortion is always a crime.

Far from being victims, for moslems, practicing their “religion” must always involve them in being feared for ostracizing everyone else, because it’s “holy” book, the Qur’an, commands them to extort, enslave, and murder all the non-moslems in the world until all other religions and cultures are replaced with allah’s. That’s their OFFICIAL “religious” doctrine!

Any and all crimes are condoned and encouraged, especially if & when used against ‘infidels,’ and not even in a defensive response to any particular, specific offenses, but only for the general “crime” of them being non-moslems. Islam is an ancient, ongoing extortion-racket CRIME-syndicate, and the only “religious” part in it, is where they say:

“God told us to commit these crimes!”