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Fear Not Sharia in Ontario
The National Post ^ | September 9, 2005 | Editorial

Posted on 09/09/2005 8:56:41 PM PDT by Allan

Fear not Sharia in Ontario

The ongoing brouhaha surrounding Ontario's possible approval of Sharia law
as a basis for legal arbitration of family disputes reflects the suspicions many Westerners harbour toward Islam
in the wake of 9/11 and other terror attacks.

With activists fearing any validation of Sharia in Ontario may lead to similar moves elsewhere,
the issue has attracted international attention:

Yesterday, protest marches took place not only in Toronto and Ottawa,
but also in 10 other cities among them Montreal, Ottawa, Paris and London.

" But while critics are correct to guard against the validation of extreme religious practices,
there is no such risk imminent in Ontario.
Despite all the shrill protests,
Dalton McGuinty's provincial government should "approve the use of Sharia in arbitration,
as recommended in a report by former Ontario attorney general Marion Boyd
nine months ago.

To listen to protesters, such a move Willleave Muslim women victimized
by the overtly sexist principles encoded in centuries-old Islamic law.
According to the most breathless accounts,
women will be kept as virtual slaves, denied divorces, separated from their children,
cheated out of inheritances and devalued as witnesses.

None of this will happen.

To begin with, as with all forms of voluntary arbitration,
Canadian Muslims must opt in before they are bound by Sharia.
The majority of women will not do so if it would mean being transported back to the Middle Ages.

Secondly, any application of Ontario's Arbitration Act is subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
which means judgments discriminating against women would be struck down.

Thirdly, even absent Charter protections, the McGuinty government -
as well as both of the province's opposition parties -
has signalled that implementation of Sharia would be conditiona
l on the protection of women's rights.

(Consequently, as we see it, whatever Muslim arbitration code comes out this process will be so watered down by equality dictates
that it will be a stretch to call it "Sharia" at all.
But that's not the public's problem.)

Fourthly, it is important to remember
that this would not be the first time a traditional religious group has used Ontario's Arbitration Act
to apply its doctrines in the legal sphere.
Orthodox Jews - no great friends of feminism
have been doing so for years,
with little complaint or notice until Muslims decided they wanted the same right.

The fact that such an inconsequential fight has brought Ontario on to the world stage
illustrates how much has changed since Sept. 11, 2001.
Four years ago, most Westerners saw Islam as just another major world religion.
Now, even the most severely bounded application of its tenets is seen as a threat to human rights.
Notwithstanding the barbaric acts
committed by those extremists who purport to be acting in the name of Islam,
Canadians and other Westerners should get beyond this knee-jerk reaction.
In Ontario and elsewhere,
Muslims should enjoy the same legal rights as everyone else.


TOPICS: Canada; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: canada; canuckistan; cuckoo; cuckoo4cocoapuffs; delusional; edsoffmeds; islam; neenerneener; sharia
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1 posted on 09/09/2005 8:56:42 PM PDT by Allan
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To: ARridgerunner
'The National Post' is Canada's national 'conservative' newspaper.

(Alas)

2 posted on 09/09/2005 8:57:45 PM PDT by Allan
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To: Allan
The ongoing brouhaha surrounding Ontario's possible approval of Sharia law as a basis for legal arbitration of family disputes reflects the suspicions many Westerners harbour toward Islam in the wake of 9/11 and other terror attacks.

You're damn right, and it's a well-founded suspicion!

3 posted on 09/09/2005 9:00:52 PM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Allan

from
"Ataturk, the Rebirth of a Nation"
by Patrick Kinross.

One of Ataturk's first actions
April 8, 1924
in trying to establish a western style state
in Turkey
was to abolish Sharia law

I quote from page 386:

"the religious courts of the Sheriat
which still administered the laws
relating to such matters of family
and personal status as marrige, divorce and inheritance
were closed
and a Civil Code based on that of the Swiss planned
to prevail over all"

I wonder what Ataturk would make of
reintroduction of Shariah law in Canada
in the year 2005!!

Maybe Canada will take over the role of the Ottomans
in the 21st century.


4 posted on 09/09/2005 9:03:24 PM PDT by Allan
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To: Allan
Lived in Saudi Arabia for six years and can tell all from firsthand observations that this article is completely wrong. Islamic takeover counts on incrementalism to slide in under the radar.
5 posted on 09/09/2005 9:04:27 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult ("Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong." - Ronald Reagan)
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To: Allan
Four years ago, most Westerners saw Islam as just another major world religion.

Yeah, except for the suicide bombers, and stuff.

6 posted on 09/09/2005 9:07:08 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: Allan
Canadian Muslims must opt in before they are bound by Sharia. The majority of women will not do so if it would mean being transported back to the Middle Ages.

The majority of Muslim women will do so, because they know what kind of hell will be waiting for them at home if they don't.

Can the author truly be this feckless?

7 posted on 09/09/2005 9:09:31 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ("Violence never settles anything." Genghis Khan, 1162-1227)
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To: Allan

"The National Post' is Canada's national 'conservative' newspaper.

(Alas)"

Is it?? I can't stand that paper, or worse, the Globe and Mail. I get most of my news through the internet, and mostly through FR here.


8 posted on 09/09/2005 9:10:07 PM PDT by plushaye (President Bush: W-2-4-4!! God Bless him and his administration.)
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To: Allan

The southern border is not the only one that needs to be closed.


9 posted on 09/09/2005 9:14:00 PM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: Allan

When Is the world ever going to wake up to the obvious attempts by Islam to bastardaize each country they swarm into with their ways and customs at the expense of their hosts. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am damn sick of it, this ain't the United States of Allamerica....


10 posted on 09/09/2005 9:18:57 PM PDT by guitarnick40 ( The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.)
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To: Allan
From the National Post. Muslims should enjoy the same legal rights as everyone.

Certainly has me confused, to use a bit of Orwell, they have GOT the same legal rights "double plus good".

I am reminded of this when I read of the treatment of one Mark Harding. Harding,of course got three months of instruction from an Imam- else do six months hard time. Judge said he promoted hate with pamphlets against Islam. Lots of hate by a certain Muslim (Nourhagigi) out of Toronto. (IranSeek)Nothing about making him take bible lessons though.

Ah well, we were told the Asper Family would not interfere with the political bent of the National Post. Now the homosexual abounds with much boosting and the vulgar flash their well clad carcasses on the centre pages. LOL

11 posted on 09/09/2005 9:20:24 PM PDT by Peter Libra
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To: fanfan; NorthOf45; Alberta's Child; -YYZ-; headsonpikes; Pikamax; GMMAC; backhoe; Cicero

ping


12 posted on 09/09/2005 9:22:56 PM PDT by Allan
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To: Allan

"My muslim wife loves to be beaten when she disobeys me! See how playfully she cringes when I raise up my fist! Ha ha ha! Of course she votes for sharia law! Don't you? Of course you do. Look, her burka is shaking up and down, that means yes."


13 posted on 09/09/2005 9:26:51 PM PDT by Travis McGee (--- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com ---)
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To: Allan

Does multiculturalism demand that we sanction barbaric and primitive practices? Get wise, you dreamers, some cultures are a damn sight better than others, they always have been and they always will.


14 posted on 09/09/2005 9:31:17 PM PDT by Dionysius (ACLU is the enemy)
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To: Hillarys Gate Cult
Islamic takeover counts on incrementalism to slide in under the radar.

Which of course really isnt saying much, since ALL moral vices act similarly (homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, pedophilia, pornography, drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc)

15 posted on 09/09/2005 9:34:16 PM PDT by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: Allan

100 bucks says the first to go will be the city of Hamilton.


16 posted on 09/09/2005 9:36:04 PM PDT by Windsong (FighterPilot)
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To: Allan

The entire article is one elaborate self-deception, perhaps to avoid the ugly truth about what Islam means and exactly how voluntary it is in a culture of "honor killings".


17 posted on 09/09/2005 9:41:14 PM PDT by thoughtomator (Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. - Patrick Henry)
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To: Allan

Give them their own land on reservations if they want to practice barbarism and neanderthal culture. Let the land be something they're accustomed to, like the Mojave Desert perpahs. Then let them practice Sharia and we can study them to help understand how mankind lived and survived 1,400 years ago. Maybe Jane Goodall could live amongst them and write another book, "Troglodytes In the Sand".


18 posted on 09/09/2005 10:13:04 PM PDT by TheCrusader ("The frenzy of the Mohammedans has devastated the churches of God" -Pope Urban II, 1097AD)
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To: TheCrusader

I think we have some former nuclear testing grounds here in Nevada that might work out....


19 posted on 09/09/2005 10:22:01 PM PDT by RedStateRocker (Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6)
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To: Allan
The majority of women will not do so if it would mean being transported back to the Middle Ages.

That's true, and women in relationships with abusive spouses would NEVER stay in those relationships.

20 posted on 09/10/2005 1:02:32 AM PDT by feedback doctor (Liberals will only go to Wal-Mart for looting!)
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