Cathleen Falsani contributing editor and columnist for Sojourners Magazine.
Posted on 03/26/2011 7:26:25 AM PDT by LSUfan
It isn’t a crime to practice Islam in the United States of America.
At least, not yet.
On March 14, Missouri state Rep. Don Wells introduced a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at blocking Shariah — the Islamic legal code — from being used in state courts. Another Missouri lawmaker introduced a bill to ban the use of any foreign laws in state courtrooms.
Wells said he introduced the Shariah ban out of concern that there is a global push to accept Islamic laws that he views as oppressive to women and as calling for violent punishment for minor offenses.
“I think it’s just absolutely a guarantee to my children and grandchildren that in the future they will live under the same laws that I grew up under,” Wells told The Associated Press.
Earlier this month, Tennessee lawmakers began considering a bill that would make the practice of Shariah law a felony. The bill was introduced by conservative legislators with ties to ongoing efforts to block the construction of an Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City and the expansion of a mosque near Nashville.
Similar laws have been proposed in a dozen other states, including Oklahoma, where last November voters approved a constitutional amendment banning the use of Shariah law in state courts. That ban has since been challenged as unconstitutional in federal court.
The moves come amidst controversy over congressional hearings on the spread of “radical” Islam in the United States. Proponents say their efforts are a reaction to what they see as a move to have Shariah supersede U.S. civil law.
But critics say those efforts amount to little more than blatant anti-Muslim bigotry and fly in the face of the First Amendment’s protection of the “free exercise” of religion.
Some called the congressional hearings a “witch hunt” and compared them to those convened by Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1940s and 1950s to ferret out Communists and their sympathizers.
“Today, millions of Muslim Americans are subjected to thoughtless generalizations, open discrimination, and outright hostility because of a tiny minority whose acts of violence deny the teachings of the Quran and are denounced by other Muslims,” said the Rev. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches.
A poll last August by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that Americans remain deeply conflicted about their opinions of Islam. The study found that only 30 percent hold a “favorable” opinion of Islam, a drop of more than 10 percent since 2005.
Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they believed Islam “encouraged” violence compared to other religions, while 42 percent said it did not, according to the Pew poll.
Testifying at the hearings convened by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress, conceded that some individuals, “including some who are Muslims, are violent extremists.”
“However,” he added, “these are individuals, not entire communities. When you assign their violent actions to the entire community, you assign collective blame to a whole group. This is the very heart of stereotyping and scapegoating.”
Shariah is a set of guiding principles derived from the Quran that were interpreted over centuries by Islamic religious scholars.
Shariah addresses a broad spectrum of issues, from crime and economics to hygiene and sexuality. While most Muslims accept Shariah as sacred, its interpretation and application vary widely depending on religious, cultural and geographic points of view.
Viewing Shariah as one set entity is akin to viewing the Bible and Christians’ interpretation thereof as a singular thing. There are as many ways to view the Bible and its teachings (and laws) as there are Christians.
American Islam, like American Christianity, is not a monolith.
“It’s anything but,” Syracuse University professor Gustav Niebuhr, author of “Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America,” told the PBS program “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” recently.
“There are people who are wealthy. There are people who are white-collar. There are all sorts of professionals. There are blue-collar people. There are people who have been here since the 1960s, people who’ve recently arrived.
“At the very time that you’ve got people fighting for freedom and human rights in North Africa, you have internationally televised hearings questioning the patriotism of at least some American Muslims,” Niebuhr said. “What’s hopeful is that people ... have stood with Muslims — and stood with Muslims as Americans — in this country. And I hope that the latter is received more strongly than the former, at least for American interests abroad.”
Yet they’ll kill you for being Christian in Muslim countries. Go figure.
That's a shame.
Then it needs to be!
What a tool.
It’s like this Cathleen, if you don’t like it here, go back to the Middle East where you can happily live like a 6th century savage with no Americans around to bother you.
It should be illegal to practice islam in America (as well as any other civilized country). There is room for only on e form of government and I like the one we have.
Oh, you thought islam was a religion, Cathleen?
The left persecutes Christians because they’re “scary” but reveres Muslims. Whom do you really think they’re more afraid of?
No other "religion" that had the goal of undermining and overthrowing our Constitution and form of government would be tolerated - except maybe the Commies that have infiltrated it. If I am a bigot because I forcefully oppose those who want to destroy my religion, my nation and my way of life, I will wear the label of "bigot" proudly. I think most real Americans would label my positions as patriotic, principled and virtuous. Calling someone who shares my principles and beliefs a "bigot" sheds a bright light on the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of those doing the rote, flippant name-calling.
They are demanding sharia law. If this doesn’t prove that islam=totalitarian system nothing will to people.
One of the hallmarks of these badly written and researched pieces is the predictable use of false choices, strawman arguments and the ENDLESS recitation of the usual ‘grievances’, as if they’ve never been proposed and answered before like the charge that it’s unfair to whitewash an entire community for the actions of a tiny minority. I can’t read this crap anymore. I just wish someone were smart enough to say, somewhere along the way,
“Islamophobia???” No we’re not afraid of Islam! THat’s why we’re holding hearings, that’s why we’re discussing it!”
It should be. It is a disease of the human soul.
Cathleen Falsani contributing editor and columnist for Sojourners Magazine.
Yep another big momma white lib gets to play mother to all, pure vanity, nothing more.
Based on the picture, the slut must be stoned for appearing in public looking like that!
As for being Muslim becoming illegal, we are working on it. And, let me tell you, Moslim theology, Sharia Law, and Moslim behavior is making it an easier task every day that passes.
We may even look forward to playing Cowboys & Moslims in the reasonably near future.
;-)
So, practing Sharia law is now legal in the U.S.?
So, practing Sharia law is now legal in the U.S.?
Go ahead. Cry your crocodile tears. The US is so mean!!!
Where do I start with this political pile of garbage you wrote?
First, it isn’t a crime to be a Muslim in America and it never will be. Thank God for that. With that said, try being a Christian in Iraq or Saudi Arabia or Iran. Muslims are hypocrites!!
Second, I was in England last year. I saw many Muslims enjoying their lives, smoking those water pipes, and women walking around in Burkas. This is all fine in many ways because it’s freedom. Still, could anyone imagine a British Pub being accepted in say Cairo or Tripoli or Tehran where the beer flowed freely and the flirting went over board? Not a friggin chance in hell!!! Muslims are hypocrites.
Third, since 2001, there have been over 5000 suicide bombings in the world by Muslims. Most have occurred in Muslim countries. Some have occurred in the west. This is absolute madness!!!
Fourth, one of best friends is from Iran...better to say escaped from Iran. She’s a beautiful person and she is welcome. Americans are the most tolerant, friendly, welcoming people in the world...and that includes welcoming Muslims. So, just shut up and quit whining about how unfair it is in America. It’s the best place in the world or you wouldn’t be here!!
Do you really blame westerners for being cautious with Islam in their own country or even judging it harshly...for now? It’s politically harsh and intolerant of other views in every part of the world that it dominates. Instead of getting annoyed with Americans, maybe its a better idea to get annoyed with the leaders of your religion?
Done!!!
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