Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Sharia law in USA?

Some people worry that there might be enclaves of Sharia Law in USA. Well, maybe there are, but not law imposed by government. Rules based on religion do persist in certain families, churches and communities. For instance many fundamentalist Christian families and communities are hard on their own children who happen to be gay while growing up in those settings. Also, there are enclaves of folks who, for instance, don't believe in things like vaccination. Children often suffer in these settings. The government and things like Child Protective Services aren't always able to rescue people from these situations. Enclaves, families and communities where badly designed religious rules reside can come in many forms and from many religions including, but not only, from Islam.

Religious law is the law of the land in some countries. Hopefully we have separation of church and state here in USA so religious law will not be the law of the land here. That would be bad from any religion; especially a fundamentalist religion. It is a problem in, for instance, Saudi Arabia. It could be a problem in a fundamentalist Christian country as well, but at this time in history it happens to be bad in some of the Islamic countries of the Middle East. Leviticus Law could be bad also. Glad USA has separation of church and state even though we have private communities and families where religious rule can be heavy handed.

When someone asked; Name me a country who bases their laws on a strict Christian sin!

My answer was.

Oppression of gay people in Uganda is often said to be based on fundamentalist Christianity. Also in some other African nations. Russia is getting stricter on things and justifying this, in part, on Christian and family values. Catholicism has a strong hold in some parts of Latin America. Maybe the problem of Islam rule in the Middle East is the most pervasive these days, but looking at history can tell a different story; like back in the times of Medieval Europe.

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