Sharia law in Britain?

[merchimerch]

I find this article REALLY interesting:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7232661.stm

The idea that the Archbishop of Canterbury is advocating the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law for the sake of social cohesion strikes me as a frightening blend of church and state (not that the UK has such a problem with it as we do in the US), but also a neat idea. I can think of myriad ways it could be done wrong, but maybe it could also be done very right. The 5 pillars of Islam are good, as is much of the moral code outlined in the Sharia as I know it (and Islam is really a tangential aspect of the area I specialize in, so I don't claim to be terribly professionally smart when it comes to this stuff).

Comments

[wdomburg.livejournal.com]

There was a proposal to do the same in Canada under the Arbitration Act (http://www.canlii.org/on/laws/sta/1991c.17/20050801/whole.html) which already allows for religious tribunals for Jews and Christians. So far as I know the effort stalled a number of years ago.

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

Um

No.

Sorry.

No.

Not going to happen. I live in a country under Sharia law, and it's damn scary sometimes, even for a very moderate one.

Let's sort out the crap sentencing, appalling rights violatinos by the media and downright injustice of it first, before trying to adopt systems from other parts of the world where you can be flogged for being in the same room as a woman who you're not related to.

[merchimerch.livejournal.com]

I totally agree that in most countries currently enacting Sharia law, there are huge injustices, especially for women. I'm just not sure that there has to be. A lot of the injustice in judicial systems (the US is a good example) comes from cultural factors, rather than the letter or spirit of the law, and I'm willing to be that this is what comes into play in many countries under Sharia law.

I'm just curious and open to the idea of allowing Sharia law to come into "democratic" systems of government. I don't know that it would actually be just in its institutionalization, but I'd like to think that it's possible.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

I'm wary of any "religious law" even though I know that in Islamic countries, religious jurisprudence often makes up a huge part of (and influences the rest of) secular law.

My western, liberal democratic mind is wary of any time someone says "God told me ... and therefore you must do ..." At least in secular law, you can appeal.

As you say, I suppose it can be done well. But the examples that come immediately to mind are places where it has not gone well at all.