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FROM THE PANEL
Keep It Separate
Making an accommodation to Sharia Law or Jewish Law or Church Law of any variety should not be the business of elected officials.
Posted by Andy Bachman, on February 18, 2008 2:47 PM
No Need for Separate Legal Systems
Muslims in the United States should be allowed to follow sharia provided that it does not transgress civil law.
Posted by Chester Gillis, on February 18, 2008 1:43 PM
Secularism's Religious Allies
The good Dr. Williams would have done much better for his Church, his people, and for British Muslims by demanding a completely secular government.
Posted by Greg M. Epstein, on February 18, 2008 12:53 PM
Living Shari`a in the West
He did not favor having criminals judged and punished under Islamic law. He did not favor having two parallel judicial systems, one for Muslims and the other for everyone else. He did not favor denying rights to Muslim women that they enjoy under British law.
Posted by Thomas J. Reese, S.J., on February 17, 2008 11:51 PM
Jesuits and Shariah
In high school, the Jesuits taught me that to find a principled answer to any question, it had to be stood on its head. So, before responding about Islamic law, we ought to ask first if U.S. law should make room for Christian teachings?
Posted by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, on February 17, 2008 10:17 PM
American Law and Shariah are Incompatible
If English law opens up to admit the sword-point of a radically different legal mentality, law itself will be reduced in its dignity and law enforcement will become more difficult.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on February 17, 2008 8:08 PM
Limits of Religious Law
We do not believe that any religious society has authority to try men on the right of property or life, to take from them this world's goods, or to put them in jeopardy of either life or limb, or to inflict any physical punishment upon them.
Posted by Michael Otterson, on February 17, 2008 7:31 PM
An 'Unclarity' Best Ignored
Much of the muddled thought of Dr. Williams regarding English law and Islamic law seems to stem from his perspective in a declining established church within a more and more diverse society.
Posted by James Anderson, on February 15, 2008 10:47 AM
Archbishop's Comments Distorted
But the assertion that some commentators have made that the archbishop simply proposed a separate legal system for the followers of Islam, without reference to, and apart from, the great and ancient tradition of English common law, is, intentionally or unintentionally, a distortion of what he actually said.
Posted by Mark S. Sisk, on February 15, 2008 9:31 AM
I Don't Want the State Propping up My Religion
Religious leaders often become giant projections screens for everyone’s anxieties and fantasies. That proved to be true last week when Rowan Williams waded into the multi-faith cauldron that is currently boiling in England.
Posted by William Tully, on February 15, 2008 9:17 AM
Law Must Uphold Rights, not Theology
I can understand why the Archbishop of Canterbury was shocked by the reactions to his lecture from the British Prime Minister and many commentators. Their remarks cause me to wonder if they read his statement in its entirety.
Posted by Jane Holmes Dixon, on February 15, 2008 8:11 AM
Pastoral and Political
For the Archbishop, this is perhaps as much a pastoral issue as a political one. This is a very difficult balance to hold on a public stage.
Posted by Jim Cooper, on February 15, 2008 7:43 AM
Archbishop Misunderstood, or Quite Mistaken
I have read carefully the Archbishop of Canterbury’s words and believe that he muddled them. I don’t believe any responsible Christian leader would ever propose trying to mix Anglo-American jurisprudence with the law of a regressive theocratic movement.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on February 14, 2008 10:23 AM
What the U.S. Should and Should Not Do
The best way we as Americans can be genuinely more respectful of the increasing religious pluralism in our midst is to maintain a strict separation of church and state, mosque and state, synagogue and state.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on February 14, 2008 9:45 AM
Accomodation is Capitulation
Accommodation with those who would deny freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and equality to women only encourages them to turn up the heat and convinces them they are winning.
Posted by Cal Thomas, on February 14, 2008 8:33 AM
Religions Thrive Under Secular Law
The architects of the American experience chose to create a nation based on secular law as the only way to ensure that no religion ever could impose its laws on those with different beliefs, whether religious or not.
Posted by Welton Gaddy, on February 14, 2008 7:13 AM
One Land, One Law
The communities that push for religious law, generally speaking, offer far fewer protections and rights to women than we enjoy under secular American law. Are we willing to accept second class status for some American women?
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on February 13, 2008 9:36 AM
Making Room for New Neighbors
While some might be saying the the Archbishop of Canterbury is guilty of dangerous compromise, I would suggest we are witnessing a sincere attempt to express a truly Christian love of neighbor.
Posted by Brian D. McLaren, on February 13, 2008 8:25 AM
On the Civil Supremacy of Secular Law
The suggestion that British law should, in certain instances, recognize the authority of Islamic religious courts is the most politically destructive, anti-secular, and legally indefensible statement by a western religious leader in recent history.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on February 13, 2008 7:49 AM
A Serious Issue that Requires Sensitivity
The question of how we live together as a civil and wise society while cherishing different faiths is a deep and serious one and can’t be pushed away just because people take fright at certain misunderstandings.
Posted by Nicholas T. Wright, on February 13, 2008 6:36 AM
Anglican Tensions Runneth Over
In fact, Archbishop Rowan Williams was not calling for implementation of Shariah law but simply signaling the need for addressing/discussing a question/issue that is inevitable. Muslims should have the same rights and choice that Orthodox Jews and Catholics already enjoy.
Posted by John Esposito, on February 12, 2008 2:30 PM
Unity Requires Some Accomodation
The Archbishop has a valid point which has been buried under heaps of angry and ignorant responses.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on February 12, 2008 11:30 AM
On Law and Faith: The Sharia and Public Life
Any religious law (no matter from what faith it evolves) that violates the dignity, life, and freedom of human beings must be rejected.
Posted by Gabriel Salguero, on February 12, 2008 9:20 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
Tom Weaver: If enough US citizens feel strongly enough in parts of Shariah to make them law, and if those parts do not violate Constitutional rights, th...
strange: This seems like empathy conflicts that us americans are so good at. We have to make everyone feel OK almost to a fault. There is a point whe...
Livvy: No.
Absolutely not.
America does not accomodate its laws for any religion or creed except to grant its citizens the right to follow that r...
