Posted on 02/07/2008 12:33:57 PM PST by marthemaria
Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has sparked a political storm by calling for aspects of Sharia law to be adopted in Britain.
Your View: Is Sharia law in Britain unavoidable? Christopher Howse: Sharia is no law for Britain Damian Thompson: Williams' authority is in tatters Dr Williams said it "seems inevitable" that elements of Islamic law, such as divorce proceedings, would be incorporated into British law.
Dr Williams backs adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law Dr Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" that some citizens do not relate to the British legal system, and argued that officially sanctioning Sharia law would improve community relations.
"Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that has sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states," he told the BBC's World at One programme.
"But there are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them."
But his intervention put him at odds with Gordon Brown, who has repeatedly encouraged ethnic communities to integrate.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said that while certain allowances had been made for Muslims, British law would be based on British values and Sharia law was no justification for acting against national law.
Religious groups and secularists also attacked the Archbishop, saying that his comments were "baffling and bewildering" and would undermine social cohesion.
Stephen Green, the national director of Christian Voice, said: "This is a Christian country with Christian laws. If Muslims want to live under Sharia law then they are free to emigrate to a country where Sharia law is already in operation.
"Any accommodation with Sharia law does nothing to help social cohesion. Christian law has been eroded by secularism and this country was founded on Christian values."
Three Line Whip: Is this the end of one law for all? My Telegraph: Is Williams a believer? | Stupid Archbishop Profile: Dr Rowan Williams But Dr Williams said the argument that "there's one law for everybody" was "a bit of a danger" and called for "a constructive accommodation" with some aspects of Muslim law.
He said the Church of England was allowed to operate its own courts, as were Orthodox Jews, and the anti-abortion views of Roman Catholics and other Christians were taken account of within the law.
"We already have in this country a number of situations in which the internal law of religious communities is recognised by the law of the land as justifying conscientious objections in certain circumstances," Dr Williams said.
He continued: "It would be quite wrong to say that we could ever license a system of law for some community which gave people no right of appeal, no way of exercising the rights that are guaranteed to them as citizens in general.
But Dr Williams said people needed to look at Islamic law "with a clear eye and not imagine, either, that we know exactly what we mean by Sharia and just associate it with... Saudi Arabia, or whatever....
"I do not think we should instantly spring to the conclusion that the whole of that world of jurisprudence and practice is somehow monstrously incompatible with human rights just because it doesn't immediately fit with how we understand it," he added.
Sharia law was originally more enlightened in its attitude to women than other legal systems, Dr Williams pointed out, but did now have to be brought up to date.
"But you have to translate that into a setting where that whole area of the rights and liberties of women has moved on," he said.
"The principle and the vision which animates the whole Islamic legal provision needs broadening because of that."
Responding to comments by one of his senior bishops that Islamic extremism was creating communities with "no go areas" for non-Muslims, he said it was "not at all the case that we have absolute social exclusion. But we do have a lot of social suspicion, a lot of distance and we just have to go on working at how that shared citizenship comes through".
The Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, said last month that non-Muslims faced a hostile reception in places dominated by the ideology of Islamic radicals. He has since faced death threats.
Dr Williams said the use of the phrase "no go areas" had sparked controversy because it reminded people of Northern Ireland.
"I don't think that was at all what was intended; I think it was meant to point to the silo problem, the sense of communities not communicating with each other," he said.
"Many Muslims would say that they feel bits of British society are no-go areas for them."
Dr Williams's comments were welcomed by Mohammed Shafiq, the director of the Ramadhan Foundation, who said: "Sharia law for civil matters is something which has been introduced in some western countries with much success."
The Magna Carta was so, well, passe...
“”Many Muslims would say that they feel bits of British society are no-go areas for them.””
I’ll bet you Christians are beginning to feel the same way.
Is he literally that stupid?
Ya’ll hear that rumbling ????...
it’s all the past Kings and Queens of Great Britain rolling in their graves...
I agree. Then they should recognize that a terrible mistake has been made and take drastic measures to correct it. But they won't do anything except assist in the strangulation of their own culture.
It’s probably safe to say the Archbishop is no Thomas More. Maybe someone should buy him a copy of “A Man for All Seasons”.
To the Christain faith...he is an apostate. Perhaps we should treat him to a bit of sharia law for apostates...since these laws are “inevitable”. Heh.
How about this for improving community relations: Live by the laws in the country in which you chose to live. If you don't like the laws, move somewhere else. By the way, don't pick Australia...their Prime Minister has already said as much.
Glen Beck said this would happen in his book An Inconvenient Book...that political correctness would seal Europe's fate, and that France is already doomed. Dr. Williams is following in the footsteps of Neville Chamberlain and will no doubt produce the same results. Wake up, Europe, before you lose it all.
If they don’t “relate,” wtf are they doing there? ?
Slapshot: "I’ll bet you Christians are beginning to feel the same way."
Let TV images of british women being beaten by a british version of the Mataween for failing to properly dress, or being in public without their husband hit American TVs and maybe even the NAG gang will join the fight.
Former PM. Howard is gone and a big lib has replaced him. So who knows, maybe they will roll out the red burqa for muslims now.
“But there are ways of looking at marital disputes, for example, which provide an alternative to the divorce courts as we understand them.”
Does he mean the customary Islamic way of turning around in place three times while chanting “I divorce thee” ? A bit counterproductive, as it would put most clergy out of the counseling business.
“Sharia law for civil matters is something which has been introduced in some western countries with much success.”
Wow, I was unaware of that. Thanks for that tidbit, Mohammad.
Probably true...1200 years ago, but Islam hasn't done much to keep up with the times. Check out the number of patents from Islamic countries...I believe it's two. When you stone your women to death for being in public with someone other than your husband, even though you're not doing a thing, I don't think they are more "enlightened" than other legal systems.
Methinks Dr. Williams got his degree with $3 and a Cheerios box top.
This guy should be hospitalized - unfortunately, he already has been institutionalized and the institution suffers from it.
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