This Is Not Tolerance

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14831144/detail.html

According to neighbors, a 57-year-old Muslim man in Detroit strangled his daughter to death while his family looked on because she refused to wear a Hijab (Muslim head scarf). Personally, I think this man, if guilty of the crime he is alleged to have committed, should be convicted of Murder 1 and put in jail for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole. Additionally, I think any adult members of his family that were present at the time of her death should be arrested for conspiracy to commit murder, and should receive similar sentences.

Now, I think there's a very important lesson in this about Sharia Law, and the desire to implement Sharia Law in Western Societies. When Muslims living in Western nations around the world ask to be allowed to govern themselves by Sharia Law, they are not asking the world to allow them to live as they please, they are asking to be allowed to enforce their religious laws on those that do not desire to follow them.

To my knowledge, this is still an issue in the Netherlands. some Muslims there would like to be able to set up their own Sharia Courts and govern "themselves" under Sharia Law. This has been framed, as I said earlier, as a desire to live as they please. The reality is they can already live as they please, what they want is the authority to force others to live as the Sharia Courts see fit.

Let me draw a comparison with the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has a lot of rules that are obviously not a part of U.S. Law. For instance, if a Catholic man commits adultery, the Catholic Church would not be pleased, and might attempt to institute some kind of church discipline. Since the U.S. government does not recognize the Catholic Church as a legal authority, the adulterer would be under no legal compulsion to accept the Churches discipline. If the adulterer accepts the Churches discipline, he does so under his own volition. Ultimately, the ONLY punishment the Catholic Church has the authority to implement is excommunication. Now, since most Catholics want to stay a part of the church, they may be willing to accept some punishment in order to avoid being kicked out, but this is not compulsory, they can always choose to accept excommunication. The same applies to every non-governmental institution. If you attend a University, and you are caught cheating on a test, you may pleed with the administration to allow you to make some kind of restitution, so long as they don't kick you out. Ultimately, that is the only punishment they have the legal authority to implement: they can expel you. That's it. Your willingness to stay in the University is the only reason you might accept some other punishment.

Muslims already have this authority. If a Muslim woman refuses to wear a Hijab, a mosque can punish her IF she is willing to accept the punishment, or the mosque can kick her out. If a Muslim man drinks alcohol, the mosque can punish him IF he is willing to accept the punishment, or the mosque can kick him out.

To avoid the risk of making this post entirely too long... I am going to post the rest of my thoughts tomorrow.