Friday, February 8, 2008

ADDENDA TO 2/7/08

Apparently the Archbishop didn't bother to ask the Muslims in the UK what they wanted. It seems that 60% do not want the Sharia laws to supersede the laws of Britain. My guess is that the Archbishop acted on his own thinking, just as the Bush administration did in invading Iraq. When will people ask to get informed before they make global assumptions about what others feel and want?

While I did not find a law prohibiting FGM (female genital mutilation), it appears the US does have one. A test case appeared in 2004. The ruling seems to have found that no crime had been done by the two accused but that FGM is considered torture and therefore the USA prohibits it. In order for women to emigrate here for protection they have to prove their country approves FGM.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Archbishop of Canterbury had good intent with his initial comments, but his statements were made from a religious perspective, not a governmental/legal one, and I, as an American, resent the intrusion of religion people into the laws of the land. Granted, the Archbishop was only stating his opinion, but the question of whether his opinion might be limited (as a recommendation/consultation to the Administration of the country) or broadly spoken to the public and all congregates of the church given the power of his position, remains an issue for me in such cases.

We have too many laws as it is. To muddy them up with, 'if you bow to God, Allah, or L. Ron Hubbard, there are exceptions to our laws of the land for you', would seem to be a big mistake.

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