"A lawsuit is expected to be filed Thursday challenging the legality of a state question that bans the use of Shariah law in state court cases. Voters on Tuesday approved State Question 755 with slightly more than 70 percent support. It was among 11 state questions on the general election ballot.
SQ 755 forbids state courts from considering international law or Shariah law when deciding cases. Shariah law is Islamic law. It is based on the Quran and the teachings of Mohammed.
Muneer Awad, executive director of the Oklahoma Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said a member of the Muslim community in Oklahoma City is expected to file suit on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Awad said SQ 755 violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adding that it targets a particular religion.
'Disfavoring Islam, or any religion, is a violation of the First Amendment,' Awad said. 'Second, it renders all international treaties invalid in our courts.'
He called the state question ridiculous because Shariah law is not used in Oklahoma courts. Awad said his organization and other groups will hold a press conference Thursday in the Capitol to discuss the lawsuit. He said the person filing the suit did not want to be identified Wednesday.
Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, sponsored the legislation putting SQ 755 on the ballot. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday."
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The Tea Party types who support this sort of thing, hate to spend tax money on much, but they do love to generate attorneys fees over these insulting irrational appeals to the baser instincts of the electorate. After Oklahoma busts the budget spending to defend the indefensible they'll cut some service or another for the poor, imprisoned, handicapped, or elderly. Brilliant.
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To say as a blanket statement that we should somehow incorporate Sharia Law into court decisions anywhere in the Free world is tantamount to saying when we sit down to eat a meal we must not begin until we have applied all the laws of any other culture to what and how we eat. Although our laws have a biblical basis for the most part, they are considered to be secular. To take and apply Sharia law would mean to take spiritual laws of the Islamic culture and apply them in a secular manner somehow. I do not see how this can be done anymore than we should take the laws of the old testament and subject ourselves to the many interpretations and variations there are today. Why and for what purpose should we turn things upside down in this way?
ReplyDeleteWhy is there any need to be subjected to the laws of people who often identify themselves with another nation. These people may be already treading on thin ice....Indians who feel this strongly about their own nation found a way to claim land here so they can live in their own way with their own laws though still under rule of our nation in most respects. Does the Islamic "Nation" seek to do this? Again, I say, "Why", and I will add, "How"? Certainly not by asserting dominance of Sharia law within our land. No. I doubt that there is even one Islamic person in the world who would say that definitely it is the right thing to come to this country and destroy something God put here. If you try to take over this country, you are bound to do that. Your efforts would be wasted. Listen to God, and He will tell you what to do. The God I am speaking about is not Satan, He is the God who began this nation and who still watches over it. In that light, we are here to love one another. When we are wrong we have a Forgiver. If you are judging us by your Sharia Laws, your thinking challenges all our past and our future. You may be wrong in your thinking, but it would be worse to be wrong in touching that which God has made. Be careful not to do this. Be forewarned.
Anon @ 10:01
ReplyDeleteThank you for a great comment. But I think we are very dangerous when it seems to us that we are action on God's Will without the counter weight of reason and shared values.
BL
Sharia laws are acceptable if they meet the same requirements as other American laws. You can't get rid of a law because the Koran agrees with it any more than you can get rid of a law because the Koran opposes it. Freedom of religion is just freedom of speech under another name. The only reason we need to distinguish it is because the public sector winds up spending the tax contributions of all citizens to promote views that are offensive to many, as when public schools promote communism, as they did when I was growing up in NYC. For that reason I prefer there be no public education except by a voucher system.
ReplyDeleteBad Lawyer: Remember the parable where Jesus say 'Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone'? Maybe a source of comfort to you. We're all sinners. You feel guilty, you're paying the price, just try to do the best you can going forward. That's all anyone can do. Peace and good luck.
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