Monday, November 01, 2010

Okies out in front of the curve

From the LA Times:

As the country grapples with its worst economic downturn in decades and persistent unemployment, voters in Oklahoma next week will take up another issue — whether they should pass a constitutional amendment outlawing Sharia, or Islamic law.

Supporters of the initiative acknowledge that they do not know of a single case of Sharia being used in Oklahoma, which has only 15,000 Muslims.

"Oklahoma does not have that problem yet," said Republican state Rep. Rex Duncan, the author of the ballot measure, who says supporters in more than a dozen states are ready to place similar initiatives before voters in 2012. "But why wait until it's in the courts?"


Are my fellow Okies so unconfident in the power of their religions that they foresee an imminent Islamic takeover? Will Sooner football games soon be stopped for mass prayers at the appointed hours? Will Van's Pig Stand shutter its succulent doors forever?

Or is the Oklahoma State Legislature just bats*&#t crazy?

DING-DING-DING! We have a winner!

5 comments:

the ill given bird said...

Crazy and Racist!!! My absentee ballot had 11 propositions... Apart from the one you mentioned it also had two that contradicted each other and one about making English the official state language!!!!!

Anonymous said...

What would you propose, when and if Sharia was allowed, it was not allowed by US or Oklahoma law? Would amputation be OK? Would flogging be OK? Would stoning be OK? This is the USA. We have our own system of laws. Muslims can either accept it, or leave.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the proponents of this initiative are simply trying to get out in front of a judiciary that cannot be trusted to NOT permit Sharia in certain circumstances, as UK courts have done?

Burt Likko said...

Perhaps they (and the voters who passed it last night) just haven't thought it through yet. There are going to be no punitive amputations or stonings; there have been none in the UK or Belgium or Holland. What this will really do is ban Sharia as a choice of law for arbitration agreements. Thus, fear of a religion different than that of the majority will cause people to be unable to enter in to contracts as they choose and "greedy trial lawyers" will make more money.

Contemplationist said...

Sorry Mike

You would be correct if there was no Muslim immigration to the US. Then "confidence" in their own religions would suffice. However, as we know from France, Sweden, Britain, Germany and other western nations with enclaves of Muslim immigrants, the police don't go there and it has de-facto Sharia law, and the "hate speech" provisions are used by Muslims to squelch anti-islamic speech.

Of course you can laugh at OK all you want now. But the more prudent question is, what if others had done this before OK? They ARE perhaps at the vanguard.