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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOklahoma bans sharia, forgets Hammurabi
http://www.newschief.com/article/20120625/NEWS/206255004JUST DESSERT
Oklahoma bans sharia, forgets Hammurabi
By DALE McFEATTERS
Scripps Howard News Service
Published: Monday, June 25, 2012 at 7:14 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, June 25, 2012 at 7:14 a.m.
In 2010, the state of Oklahoma outlawed "sharia," the legislators knowing nothing about it except that it had something to do with Muslim law, its supporters knowing of no instances where it had been invoked in the state, and, indeed, the state had only 15,000 Muslims.
There was much talk of preventing terrorism, but the worst act of terror in the state, the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people, was committed by Timothy McVeigh, who was reared a Roman Catholic.
So far as is known, the Oklahoma legislature made no attempt to outlaw canon law, but the century is young yet.
The ban spread to such juridical and theological centers of learning as Tennessee and Alabama, and many other states have been considering a ban on sharia, whatever sharia is exactly.
SoutherDem
(2,307 posts)But, is it constitutional to outlaw any religious law? Maybe I am not understanding.
malthaussen
(17,216 posts)Who's going to challenge?
-- Mal
Behind the Aegis
(53,987 posts)A federal appeals court today blocked a measure that wouldve made Oklahoma the first state in the nation to ban the Sharia law in its court system.
The court ruled in favor of Muneer Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, who filed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma election board on the grounds that the voter-approved constitutional amendment violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution forbidding the government from favoring one religion over another.
The amendment specifically stated that it forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law.
Sharia law is broadly defined as a body of law based on Islam and its central religious text, the Quran.
This is an important reminder that the Constitution is the last line of defense against a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society, and we are pleased that the appeals court recognized that fact, Awad said in a statement. We are also hopeful that this decision serves as a reminder to politicians wishing to score political points through fear-mongering and bigotry.
more @ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/oklahomas-ban-on-sharia-law-struck-down-by-federal-appeals-court/
malthaussen
(17,216 posts)That was quick.
-- Mal
Behind the Aegis
(53,987 posts)When we moved back here from New Orleans, I was following what was going on in regards to this idiotic "law." They ever want to pass a law protecting me from fundamentalism, I'll be all over that shit in a minute, but the 13 Muslims in the state are far from a concern of mine.
Behind the Aegis
(53,987 posts)A federal appeals court today blocked a measure that wouldve made Oklahoma the first state in the nation to ban the Sharia law in its court system.
The court ruled in favor of Muneer Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, who filed a lawsuit against the Oklahoma election board on the grounds that the voter-approved constitutional amendment violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution forbidding the government from favoring one religion over another.
The amendment specifically stated that it forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law.
Sharia law is broadly defined as a body of law based on Islam and its central religious text, the Quran.
This is an important reminder that the Constitution is the last line of defense against a rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society, and we are pleased that the appeals court recognized that fact, Awad said in a statement. We are also hopeful that this decision serves as a reminder to politicians wishing to score political points through fear-mongering and bigotry.
more @ http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/01/oklahomas-ban-on-sharia-law-struck-down-by-federal-appeals-court/
Buns_of_Fire
(17,195 posts)Why merely drip sarcasm when you can POUR it on!
NNN0LHI
(67,190 posts)Some subtle. Some not so subtle.
I enjoyed reading it too.
Don
Buns_of_Fire
(17,195 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)"Mommy, what's an oxen?" Then you'll know...lol.
primavera
(5,191 posts)As if any of those legislators were well enough educated to even know who Hammurabi was, much less have forgotten about him.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)...Goddamn, Oklahoma has to be the stupidest, most hateful, right-wing state in the country. Sorry, Arizona.