Friday 2 September 2011

So where's the evidence of this so-called "Creeping Sharia", anyway?

This post is part of the answer to the question, from those of my friends and acquaintances, and some readers, "so what is the evidence for the so-called 'creeping Sharia', then?".  I'll add to it as we go along.  For example, there's the evidence of Sharia laws influencing US courts as well, and I'll need to get the links and references for that.
There are, of course, the Sharia courts in the UK, which have been comprehensively critiqued and and found wanting, by One Law for All, a secular and non-partisan think tank, which is made up of many Muslims and ex-Muslims, and headed by Maryam Namazie.
There are the growing number of areas in the UK run by Muslims with Sharia law in effect already: "Welcome to Tower Hamlets", says the gloriously-named Esmerelda Weatherwax, in this month's New English Review.

On the issue of free speech, the freedom to talk openly and critically about Islam -- as we can about any other religion: witness Catholicism's copping a pounding in recent years -- there's the forthcoming UN resolution which will criminalise criticism of Islam.  Nina Shea in the National Review:
An unprecedented collaboration between the Obama administration and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC, formerly called the Organization of the Islamic Conference) to combat “Islamophobia” may soon result in the delegitimization of freedom of expression as a human right.
More....