It seems pretty clear to me that one of American democracy's enduring gift to the world is our notion of a Constitutionally separate view of Church-State relations. It's a relationship that is, ironically, sacred. And it should remain that way.
Making an accommodation to Sharia Law or Jewish Law or Church Law of any variety should not be the business of elected officials. When we see such strategies employed in politics, they generally seem to be for two reasons: to keep the potential for conflict at bay or to infuse a debased secular political enterprise with morality.
In England and throughout Europe, we are witnessing a developing set of conflicts in the engagement with Islam--from dress to the application of religious law--and most decisions seem to be based upon a desire to keep the peace in the face of fears of radical Islam.
In the United States, though similar fears may be expressed about Islam, I believe that the American dream (though perceived of as in tatters) still resonates with most and therefore I also believe that most come here to transcend religion and assimilate into a broader American culture which will ultimately accept them despite difference. And one of the great equalizers in this enterprise is the doctrine of "separation of Church and State." It mandates that religious and civil law can co-exist but that in the final analysis, we are all citizens before we are subdivided into ethnic or religious sub-groups.
This poses challenges for maintaining individual group cohesion--certainly a matter often at the top of the Jewish communal agenda--but it's a trade-off Jews have been willing to make for more than 300 years here in North America in exchange for religious practice that is free of the State.
The beauty of democracies can be found in their "messiness" and their encouragement of compromise in order to please the greatest diversity of voices in the polity. Keeping Church/Synagogue/Mosque separate is the way to achieve Democracy's vision of domestic tranquility.
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