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The Archbishop's latest good idea
#1
I've been trying to post this on the UK News forum, where I think it would have been more appropriate, but I'm told I don't have the appropriate permission, so apologies if this comes across as even more problematic on this forum.
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“The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for the UK to adopt Sharia for Muslims.
Dr Rowan Williams suggested today that it “seems unavoidable” that elements of Islamic law be accepted into the British legal system.
The head of the Church of England believes that officially sanctioning Sharia will improve community relations and aid integration.” ... etc
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment...&HBX_OU=50
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I’ve been listening to the news today with some incredulity. The Archbishop of Canterbury has done it again. Today he decides to reveal that he believes we have to accept that Sharia law will be part of life for some people in this country and he feels it ought to be given some measure of official status.

I thought we lived in a democracy, a place where we get to vote in the people who make the law. That Dr Williams feels it is appropriate to offer his support to those who wish to live by a parallel system of law, one that does not recognise the current status of women (or, more significantly for us, glbt folk for that matter) seems extraordinary.

His reasoning seemed to go something like, many Muslims feel excluded enough in UK society already so why make matters worse … ? Well, worse for whom? How about those in Middle Eastern states who are obliged to live by these ancient codes? The more extreme manifestations of this system of law seems to have managed to trump up charges against too many men for the wholly specious crime of being gay. Similarly, if a married woman happens to fall in love with someone else …

There may be some examples of the application of wisdom in Sharia law, but I cannot see anything in his argument in favour of officially recognising a parallel legal system, particularly one that is unchangeable, because it is supposed to be “the word of God” and we are supposed to accept that god never changes his mind (let’s put to one side for the moment the existence of a supreme being!!!)? I heard Dr Williams state that he envisions that people would have some matter of choice as to which laws might be called upon to further a civil suit. In some of the more “ghettoed” communities I wonder what sort of choice people would really have? One has only to read Ed Hussain’s brave account of his time as an Islamist to realise the amount of bullying to which this will lay people wide open.
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#2
I watched that film last night called Un Amour à Taire and to be quite honest, it gave me the creeps, made me cry, made me feel most uncomfortable thinking that any day, the horror of those times may come again.... (I'm talking about pink triangle days, under the Nazi regime). SICK SICK SICK!!! I guess I'm still in shock.
You need to see this film to know what can come back some day to persecute us. I think we must keep quite vigilant for women's rights and gays' rights to remain full fledged, if not even reinforced, lest the battles of our foremothers and forefathers (well, they probably didn't father many but... you know what I mean) should become useless. I wouldn't want to dishonour them that way.

For reference: Un Amour à Taire / A Love to Hide
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444518/

image:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm558404096/tt0444518
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#3
For me, the most bizarre part of this whole story is that Dr Williams has for many years, to his disgrace, bent over backwards to appease the homophobic and bullying wing of the Anglican Communion and is now extolling the virtues of some kind of legal relativism. Is there no end to the man’s dissembling?

I don't know anything about the law, but I have a feeling that good law has to be fair. If there are aspects of Sharia law that are actually more fair than that which we have currently in place let's see Parliamentary debate so we can go through a democratic process for change. Responsibility for the legal process can then be taken up through the normal agencies. Handing over part of the legal process, even if it is only for certain civil actions, to unelected elders whose hands and minds are tied to religious dogma imposed on a very different kind of society that existed many centuries ago is not an appropriate way forward.

Given his responses on so many occasions might one be forgiven for thinking that he bows when the heat’s turned up sufficiently? Maybe WE don’t shout loudly enough? “Those who don’t blackmail don’t get” is hardly a mantra for genuine inclusion.
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#4
Alistair McBay, spokesman for the National Secular Society said: "In a plural society, all citizens are equal under the law and the Archbishop's comments directly undermine this."

That's what I meant ...
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#5
marshlander Wrote:Alistair McBay, spokesman for the National Secular Society said: "In a plural society, all citizens are equal under the law and the Archbishop's comments directly undermine this."

That's what I meant ...

And you said it well, ...
or someone did.
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