Shariah Law Doesn't Belong in the United States

(USA Today) Muneer Awad, 27, a recent University of Georgia law school graduate born in Michigan, says he's standing up for the U.S. Constitution trying to change Oklahoma's laws.  "I'm trying to defend the First Amendment, says Awad, director of Oklahoma's chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).  The issue is the amendment to Oklahoma's constitution which passed overwhelmingly on Election Day that bars judges from considering Islamic or international law in Oklahoma state courts.  Awad sued, and last week a federal judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect while she determines whether it violates the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits establishment of a state religion.  Although Oklahoma's law is the first to come under court scrutiny, legislators in at least seven states, including Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah, have proposed similar laws, the National Conference of State Legislatures says.  Tennessee and Louisiana have enacted versions of the law banning the use of foreign law under certain circumstances.  Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is pushing for a federal law that "clearly and unequivocally states that we're not going to tolerate any imported law."

What is Shariah law?  Islamic law or sharia, which means "path" in Arabic, is a code of conduct governing all aspects of Muslim life, including family relationships, business dealings, and religious obligaitons.  It is based on the Quran.  Islamic countries operating under the guidance of Sharia may have varying interpretations of the code.  Awad says the Oklahoma law would prohibit a judge from probating his will, written in compliance with Islamic principles, or adjudicating other domestic matters such as divorces and custody disputes involving Muslims.  Supporters of sharia bans, including Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, say Islamic law is creeping into U.S. courts.  Earlier this year an appeals court in New Jersey overturned a state court judge's refusal to issue a restraining order against a Muslim man who forced his wife to engage in sexual intercourse.  The judge found that the man didn't intend to rape his wife because he believed his religion permitted him to have sex with her whenever he desired.  The case "presents a conflict between the criminal law and religious precepts," the appeals court wrote.  "In resolving this conflict, the judge determined to except (the husband) from the operation of the State's statutes as the result of his religious beliefs.  In doing so, the judge was mistaken. 

Gaffney's think tank recently published a book that argues jihadists who want worldwide Islamic rule try to establish sharia courts to weaken democracies.  "I think you're seeing people coalesce around legislation of the kind that was passed in Oklahoma," Gaffney says.  South Carolina legislators proposed a resolution in April that says state courts "shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures.  Specifically, the courts shall not consider sharia law or other international laws. 

Sharia law isn't compatible with the U.S. Constitution or any of America's other statutes.  If Muslims don't like how our laws are written, then they should pack their belongings and move to the Middle East where they can live in those countries which are sharia compliant.  We have Islamists under the guise of CAIR that are trying to force states to make sharia law a part of states' laws.  They are trying to force states to accept international law in order to allow sharia law to be a part of the respective states' laws.  If the courts allow Muslim groups to infiltrate the states and force sharia law down the throats of the citizens of those respective states, then there's a clear double standard here.  In the last few decades the state and federal courts have increasingly been ruling that religious expressions regarding our Christian heritage in public (such as the display of a creche or a nativity scene) is a violation of the U.S. Constitution and violates the First Amendment's clause which states there can't be any establishment of religion.  They use the infamous phrase "separation of church and state" stemming from the U.S. Supreme Court case Everson vs. Board of Education in 1947.  To allow CAIR and other Muslim groups to enforce sharia law in the states would be hypocritical.  If the government is to be neutral towards religion, then the court shouldn't be allowing Muslims to incorporate sharia as state law.  Sharia law is unconstitutional. I guarantee you if there was a church or a Christian group which tried to petition the state to pass a law which would incorporate the Ten Commandments as state law, for example, the ACLU would sue them and classify making the Ten Commandments state law as a violation of the separation of church and state.  Why is our government allowing Muslim groups to force states to change their laws to accommodate Sharia? 

Sharia has no place in American law.  Our politicians that are occupying seats of higher power are traitors.  They have no regards for the U.S. Constitution nor the Judeo-Christian heritage that's been the framework of American law.  Muslim front groups such as CAIR should have no influence whatsoever in American society.  They should be discredited and marginalized.  RICO statutes should be imposed on them as well.  Any Muslim group that wants to force states to accept sharia as part of their laws should be deported from the United States.  America wasn't built on Islam.  Our laws don't reflect Islamic law.  If our leaders don't like that, then they can leave America as well.  If I was living in Saudi Arabia for example, and I tried to sue the state to incorporate Christianity into the laws of Saudi Arabia, they would stone me.  There's no such thing as freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia.  I recognize America is a land which tolerates religious views and religious expressions.  However, if religious groups aren't satisified with America's laws and if they feel their religion should be incorporated into American law, then they should move to another country.  They should move to a country which would accommodate their religious views.  Sharia law has no place in American society.