What is causing some people to openly discuss their fear that Sharia Law is coming to America?

[Stinky The Clown]

We heard a husband and wife carry on about this at a recent gathering. They sounded silly, really.

Where do they get this shit?

[HipChick]

1. Faux News..

I also heard that people would be put in FEMA camps..

[joefree1]

4. I also heard that people over 30 would be put into LSD camps

But that may have been an old 60s movie.

[TeamPooka]

42. Wild In The Streets! Love that movie

Paranoid hippie fears realized! lol
Hal Holbrook stars and Richard Pryor makes his film debut in a small role.
Put it in your Netflix queue

[oldhippydude]

2. christian right...

doncha know this is a christian nation..... rallying cry to the base... also ties in with hatred of Muslims in general... remember the ground zero mosqe.... and Terry whats his name the Florida koran burning pastor..

its almost a right wing cottage industry.. promoted by Pam Gellar

[The Straight Story]

3. I think it is because they are looking in a mirror and seeing what they want to do (nt)

[defacto7]

13. psychological displacement

[Blue_Tires]

29. it's also one of the newer "boogeymen" the RWers can fall back on

when they don't have any answers on the REAL issues...

[chalky]

5. These idiots don't even know what "Sharia Law" is.

To them it's just some menacing Muslim something-or-other that serves as this year's "Red Menace". Seriously - ask them, "What does 'Sharia Law' mean?" and watch their mental hard drives lock up.



edited because grammar is not my first love.

[defacto7]

12. Ha... that's probably right

[Populist_Prole]

18. Bingo: They're just aping talking points from talking heads

It's always humorous to hear meatheads try to sound informed by paraphrasing BS they heard on faux news and passing it off as though they were studying the issue at depth.

[Stinky The Clown]

27. I will do that next time

And I know there will be a next time.

[amborin]

6. pam gellar and boykin, both of romney campaign eom

[Scootaloo]

7. The latest excrement of America's long-time Islamophobic fetish

[Separation]

8. Google judge upholds sharia law.

There have been a couple of unsettling cases. The two that I looked at one was overturned in a higher court. I believe it was about a man raping his wife and according to Sharia law a wife cannot refuse sex. He won the case but it was overturned. Another case I saw an atheist was beaten by a Muslim when he dressed as a zombie Mohammed. The judge actually berated the guy who was beaten. Coincidentally, the zombie pope who was beside him was not beaten.

[Douglas Carpenter]

11. I just goggled it myself - and only neo-Nazi type hate sites are making that claim - and without any

sources whatsoever or information whatsoever to back up those claims. No there is no evidence of any American Judges implementing Sharia Law as described - that is preposterous.

[chalky]

15. Also googled it - and for the second case, from the one site (Yahoo) that WASN'T a

right-wing, foaming at the mouth blog, the judge actually threw out the case because the so-called "evidence" was some half-assed grainy video that showed nothing. Which is, incidentally, how US law is supposed to work.

Still looking for the first case you mentioned on google. A link would have been helpful.

[Separation]

19. Here is the arguemet from the appellate court.

http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=2&xmldoc=in%20njco%2020100723325.xml&docbase=cslwar3-2007-curr&SizeDisp=7

I believe this is the case of the wife and husband at the appellate level.

I do not think this is something that is happening as some are scared into believe is happening. Happening once is one time to many, as is any type of religious rulings, I don't care if its a catholic, baptist, or hebrew judge.

Sorry for taking so long to respond, I'm on my cell phone and a very unreliable Internet connection.

[Ikonoklast]

35. Had waaaay more to do with the judge interpreting the law incorrectly than anything to do with

imposing Sharia law on anyone.

This is a deliberate misconstruing of fact by idiots.

[suffragette]

38. Here is the real info on that from an article in the Nation

http://www.thenation.com/article/168378/true-story-sharia-american-courts#

The Sharia scaremongers often rely on a single New Jersey case, S.D. v. M.J.R., as proof that Islamic law is seeping into our court system. In it, a wife sought a restraining order against her husband, alleging that he repeatedly beat and sexually assaulted her. The judge denied her request, holding that the defendant did not form the criminal intent necessary to commit the crime, because his genuine religious beliefs dictated that he was entitled to sexual relations upon demand. The ruling was wrong—both under state law and Sharia—and, not surprisingly, the New Jersey Appellate Court reversed it in 2010.

Yet S.D. v. M.J.R has become the poster child for the anti-Sharia movement. During a Republican presidential debate in June 2011, Herman Cain cited it as proof that “there have been instances in New Jersey…where Muslims did try to influence court decisions with Sharia law.” Oklahoma State Representative Rex Duncan, the lead sponsor of the Oklahoma Sharia ban, also cited the case after being unable to come up with a single case in which a court upheld Sharia in his own state.


Looks like this is cited often by Republicans as their "proof" while conveniently omitting the important fact that it was appropriately reversed.


I'm curious as to your user name. Any particular reason you picked it? Very odd choice for a progressive, Democratic forum.

Oh, and Hebrew is a language.

[Separation]

43. Separation

It has to do with the separation of church and state and how the right has high jacked religious fundies, as I explained in one of my other posts.

The OP asked about hearing people talking about Sharia law taking over, I googled it and provided links. I never once said I believe sharia law was in any shape or form taking over. I believe it's another scare tactic by the the right. I do however don't like the encroachment of ANY religion into our goverment.

Not every new user here is a RW infiltrator.

[Turborama]

25. Why tell people to Google it instead of posting links? This isn't YouTube

Welcome to DU.

[nyquil_man]

9. Someone lied on the internet.

The lie spread.

[defacto7]

14. then died........

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Pure moonbat insanity.

[Ivywoods55]

16. From the Republican Party with their war on everyone's rights!

They are getting the nonsense from the Republican Party because they are the only ones trying to diminish and revoke people's rights. From women's rights to voting rights to even children's rights, these folks have been on a binge to revoke the rights of everyone but white men....this is their own form of Sharia Law...Republican style.

[Scurrilous]

17. Longish article:

An ‘industry’ built on hate: How the right-wing successfully brought anti-Muslim bigotry into the American mainstream

<snip>

"Ahmed Sharif was a 44-year-old Muslim Bangladeshi taxi driver in New York City. It was August 24, 2010, a time that marked the height of vitriolic protests against a planned Islamic center to be located in lower Manhattan, a few blocks away from the site of Ground Zero. Sharif picked up 21-year-old Michael Enright for an early evening ride. Everything was going smoothly until Enright, three blocks away from his stop, yelled at Sharif, “this is a checkpoint, motherfucker, and I have to bring you down.”

Enright, a filmmaker who kept a diary filled with strong anti-Muslim sentiment, pulled out a knife and slashed Sharif across the throat, face and arms. Enright tried to escape, but was arrested by the New York Police Department. Sharif survived, but he packed up and moved to Buffalo, in upstate New York. It was a crime that seemed to fit in with the general climate of hysteria over Muslims that developed that summer.

This is how Nathan Lean begins telling the story of how a small group of bigots seized upon the frustrations and fears of post-9/11 America and exploited those feelings to create a circular industry of hate. Lean’s new book, The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims, is a compact and punchy look at this industry stretching across continents that has sowed hatred of Muslims into the fabric of Western society."

http://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/an-industry-built-on-hate-how-the-right-wing-successfully-brought-anti-muslim-bigotry-into-the-american-mainstream.html

[Turborama]

26. Thanks, Scurrilous

Interesting read.

It's sad to have seen them succeed to such an extent that hatred of Muslims has become a part of the fabric of DU, too.

[Alekei_Firebird]

20. Incoherent voicing of their fear that 1950s America is disappearing

"Sharia law" is just a catch all term for a new America that will be less White, less Christian, less patriarchal, and more globalist than the world that they grew up in.

[Javaman]

21. I blame it on a rampant outbreak of stupidity. nt

[marmar]

22. Never misunderestimate the gullibility and lemmingthink of the American public.

nt

[justiceischeap]

23. If they had a true understanding of Sharia Law, they'd be outraged at the Republics

for trying to force their will on women. It's obvious from their lack of outrage they have no understanding of what Sharia Law really is.

[Lucy Goosey]

24. Because old men in positions of power...

...are openly talking about forcing women to bear their rapists' babies?

[bullwinkle428]

30. BINGO! "Sharia Law" IS coming, but not quite in the form they originally envisioned.

[Initech]

32. Definitely this.

[reformist2]

28. It's a nasty combo of the "sleeper cells are among us" and "Obama is a secret muslim" memes.

[randome]

31. Usually this comes from people who no longer feel comfortable in the modern world.

They can't keep up with technology. They know secularism is winning over fundamentalism. And they see Conservatives starting to lose to Progressives.

Rather than try to fit in with this changing world, they find old fears to rail against.

[Sheepshank]

33. When there are people llike Santorum are given credibility for separating church and state...

...When people like Mourdick are provided a political platform for their theology, I worry about Sharia (type) law too!!!

[treestar]

34. Too uneducated to even understand the American system

They don't understand the Constitution, they don't understand what Sharia Law is, they fear and hate Muslims. It's right wing's dream, because they've found a substitute for communism and the cold war. The Muslims are coming to take over!

[Hugabear]

36. These same people would have no problem with a fundamentalist Christian theocracy

These are the same people who would bring back laws against homosexuality, force religious indoctrination in schools, etc.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

37. I take it you don't konw anything about the Marxist Caliphate

Obama is a secret member of The Marxist Caliphate, a shadowy, deeply-religious organization made up of secular-Communist-Marxists in the vein of William Ayres and Saul Alinsky, and protected by PantherCorn, a gruop of scary black militants made up of former members of ACORN and The Black Panthers. Don't believe me? Google Glen Beck--he's got all the details.

[pampango]

39. PFAW: The Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism

Strategy 3: Invent the danger of 'creeping Sharia'

One of the more absurd claims employed by anti-Muslim activists is that American judges are being compelled to follow Sharia law (or Islamic law) and that Muslims are advocating the creation of Sharia courts in America. Despite the lack of any evidence to back up these claims, anti-Sharia paranoia is spreading. Oklahoma passed an anti-Sharia law by popular referendum in 2010, and numerous other state legislatures are poised to pass similar legislation.

The only actual court case these Right Wing activists are able to cite as evidence of “creeping Sharia” is a New Jersey domestic abuse ruling where a judge cited Islamic law in his decision. However, that ruling was overturned on appeal, which in fact demonstrates the failure of Sharia to infiltrate the judicial process. The New Jersey Star Ledger summed up the case: “In 2009, a Hudson County judge gave too much weight to the religious beliefs of a Moroccan man accused of sexually assaulting his wife. The decision was overturned on appeal, and now the convicted defendant, who lives in Bayonne, faces up to 20 years in state prison.”

Rep. (Allen) West (R-FL) has launched a briefing into the alleged “infiltration” of the Muslim Brotherhood in government following his call for a congressional investigation of the “infiltration of the Shariah practice into all of our operating systems in our country as well as across Western civilization.” Gaffney believes anyone who follows Sharia is practicing “an impermissible act of sedition, which has to be prosecuted under our Constitution” -- a belief evidently shared by the Tennessee legislators who tried to pass a law that would make it a felony to adhere to Sharia law. Anti-Muslim pundit Daniel Pipes said that the legalization of polygamy “is coming our way” as a result of pressure to use Sharia law.

The sponsor of the successful anti-Sharia referendum in Oklahoma, Republican state Rep.[/b Rex Duncan, said that the law was needed as part of “a war for the survival of America.” Wyoming Republican state Rep. Gerald Gay said he feared legalized honor killings in his state, adding that he felt “very comfortable in making my governmental decisions based on certain tenants of the Christian faith.” When a federal judge blocked the application of Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia referendum because it singled out Muslims and targeted their rights to freely practice their faith, anti-Muslim activists in the state demanded her impeachment. Many activists – including, famously, Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle -- even falsely claim that the city of Dearborn, Michigan, has already adopted Sharia law.

http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/the-right-wing-playbook-anti-muslim-extremism

[AsahinaKimi]

40. Sharia Law sounds like something

Sean Hannity would drum up fear about. Glenn Beck certainly had his moments with it too, I am sure. Islamophobia is big with the Fox News Network.. Haters gotta hate.

[suffragette]

41. Stinky, I found some good info in an article from The Nation

which popped up when I went searching for more info about the case brought up by a poster earlier in the thread as "proof."


Worth a full read, but the last paragraph, and especially the last sentence, sums it up well:
http://www.thenation.com/article/168378/true-story-sharia-american-courts#

The far-right rhetoric of the GOP, with its Islamophobic fictions highlighted during the primary debates, lives on in Mitt Romney’s foreign policy team. Walid Phares, one of Romney’s key terrorism policy advisers and a Fox News regular, has been touting the “mortal threat” posed by Islam. Commenting on the danger of Sharia last year, he said, “The most concerning to me is not the actual Sharia document. What is concerning to me are the networks that are using it.” Through front groups, NGOs and lobbying, he explained, these networks are not only spreading Sharia but seeking to exert political influence at home and abroad. “This influence that the Islamists have in the United States is an issue,” he said, “and it should be an issue raised in the debate, including in this very hot presidential contest this year.” In other words, fabricate a “mortal threat,” then stoke the flames of ignorance and hate in order to win elections—that’s the real truth behind the anti-Sharia movement.