On November 2, 2010, Oklahoma voters approved 70%-30% a state constitutional amendment that “makes courts rely on federal and state law when deciding cases” and “forbids courts from considering or using Sharia Law.” (Full text of the ballot description here.)
I can barely even wrap my mind around how ridiculous this is.
Think about it for a second. You’re making a state law that says judges have to follow state law.
What conceivable problem are we solving here?
Picture this: a judge comes into work one day, says “Hey, instead of interpreting U.S. law, I think we’ll give the Islamic religious code a whirl.” Nothing at all prevents this – nothing like, say, the entire existing United States legal framework – except, wait! Oklahoma voters to the rescue! Thank God, crisis averted!
Can’t imagine it? Funny, me neither.
This nonsense is back in the news now because a federal appeals court recently ruled the measure unconstitutional. I’ll let the staggering irony of that sink in for a second.
The whole thing is part of a larger wave of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States. Similar laws have been proposed in twenty other states. Representative Peter King has begun a series of pointless hearings investigating the extent of radicalization in the Muslim community. And Herman Cain – who, for reasons that remain unclear, was briefly the Republican frontrunner for President of the United States of America – warned of the “creeping attempt” to work Sharia law into the government.
Sigh.
The sheer volume of ignorance and stupidity here is depressing. Maybe we can…yeah, let’s see, I think I can find…
Yay, puppies! Ah, I feel better now.
Puppies.
All right, readers, what do you think about all this? Alternatively: can you tell us something that will cheer us up and/or restore our faith in humanity?
And, go!
Brian D. Buckley 
Try this one on for size:
http://consumerist.com/2012/01/crab-soup-recalled-for-undeclared-milk-wheat-andcrab.html
Doubt it will restore your faith, but I’m sure glad people are looking out for us dumb consumers.
Sounds like the FDA is getting a little…crabby?! OH HO HO HO HO!!
Hm, that pun probably didn’t restore *anyone’s* faith in humanity…
I dont know what Sharia Law is, so I’m probably not a prime example of hope in humanity lol.
But if this helps, I believe that once humanity makes the ONE BIG mistake and everyone suffers for a while, it’ll be a catalyst for a worldwide spiritual evolution.
That or we all die.
Either way, It’s something to look forward to? *shrugs*
Ha, yeah, I probably should’ve said what Sharia law is. Basically, it’s Islamic religious law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharia
Oh no, Sharia law is back in the news? *groans* That was hard enough the first time around. I am so glad our elected representatives are addressing issues that are pertinent to the here and now.
I tried looking for things that would restore faith in humanity and just came across a bunch of articles about Iraq, Gitmo, slow progress in Haiti, and 10 things you can do with Twinkies. (No, really!) None of these is particularly faith-inducing, unfortunately.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/11/145068773/10-things-to-do-with-a-twinkie
Okay, that was actually pretty sweet. I kind of want to try out #7 now…
Well um. . . no. I don’t know what the Sharia law is, but unfortunately I can’t do much to restore anyone’s faith in humanity. Probably because I think the American people are like very, very stupid sheep. (at least for the most part: call it about 70% of the population, but that’s majority). Anyway, I feel like all Americans ever do is follow the advertisements, and they never seem to think for themselves.
WELL, this is a depressing comment, isn’t it? Maybe I should revert back to Alex version 1.0, when all was cheerful and happy. Nowadays almost everything seems corrupted. . .
Heh…well, fortunately I’m not quite as pessimistic as you are. From what I can tell, almost every major newspaper in the state denounced the amendment, and the courts are tearing it apart even now. The system does work, for the most part.