Michael Gerson: Oklahoma's Faith-Baiting Initiative
[Michael Gerson is a former speechwriter for President Bush and a columnist for the WaPo.]
Just to be on the safe side, voters in Oklahoma this month overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that prevents the Talibanization of the Sooner State. Henceforth, there will be no public stonings in Ponca City, no forced burqa wearing in Bartlesville, no sharia law in Lawton....
But the problem with the anti-sharia movement runs deeper. In its purest form, it is strangely consistent with Islamist beliefs and Islamist purposes. Anti-sharia activists argue that sharia law controls every area of a Muslim's life - that the only valid interpretation of sharia is the oppressive Taliban or Saudi model - and thus that Islam itself is incompatible with American democracy. Radical Islamists would nod in agreement to each of these claims. The accusation of the anti-sharia activists and the fondest hope of Osama bin Laden are identical: that every serious Muslim is a recruit for sedition.
Both are wrong. The proper interpretation of sharia law is a subject of vigorous debate within Islam. There are some who would freeze societies in the cultural practices of seventh-century Arabia. But there are others who identify a core of Islamic teaching that is separable from the cultural assumptions of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad. Predominantly Muslim nations take a variety of approaches to the application of Islamic law, from theocracy to official secularism. In the Islamic world, there is no consensus on the nature of sharia, and no pope to enforce one....
Read entire article at WaPo
Just to be on the safe side, voters in Oklahoma this month overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment that prevents the Talibanization of the Sooner State. Henceforth, there will be no public stonings in Ponca City, no forced burqa wearing in Bartlesville, no sharia law in Lawton....
But the problem with the anti-sharia movement runs deeper. In its purest form, it is strangely consistent with Islamist beliefs and Islamist purposes. Anti-sharia activists argue that sharia law controls every area of a Muslim's life - that the only valid interpretation of sharia is the oppressive Taliban or Saudi model - and thus that Islam itself is incompatible with American democracy. Radical Islamists would nod in agreement to each of these claims. The accusation of the anti-sharia activists and the fondest hope of Osama bin Laden are identical: that every serious Muslim is a recruit for sedition.
Both are wrong. The proper interpretation of sharia law is a subject of vigorous debate within Islam. There are some who would freeze societies in the cultural practices of seventh-century Arabia. But there are others who identify a core of Islamic teaching that is separable from the cultural assumptions of the Koran and the teachings of Muhammad. Predominantly Muslim nations take a variety of approaches to the application of Islamic law, from theocracy to official secularism. In the Islamic world, there is no consensus on the nature of sharia, and no pope to enforce one....