No Separation of Church and State for Muslims in the West

A woman is caned in Indonesia for illegal contact with a man. This punishment is sanctioned by sharia law.

In an entry on November 27, 2008, I linked to an article dealing with the issue of Sharia Compliant Finances to illustrate how the West is going out of its way to satisfy the demands of Muslims. Several additional examples of this can be seen in the following articles.

On September 14, 2008, the Times of London reported that the first official Sharia courts had opened in the United Kingdom, in the cities of London, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester with the network’s headquarters in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Two more courts are being planned for Glasgow and Edinburgh. These courts have the power to rule on civil cases. The article goes on to report:

The government has quietly sanctioned the powers for sharia judges to rule on cases ranging from divorce and financial disputes to those involving domestic violence. Rulings issued by a network of five sharia courts are enforceable with the full power of the judicial system, through the county courts or High Court.

How does English common law reconcile it's laws against domestic violence with sharia law which sanctions wife beating? Are we next going to see a murderer exonerated when a daughter is assassinated for dishonoring the family?

Another report from Tucson, Arizona, explains how Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, set up cleansing stations for Muslim limo and taxi drivers so that they can cleanse and wash their feet before prayer. Airport management explained that the facility was funded through airport user fees, and not at taxpayer expense. I fail to see the difference. Non-Muslim passengers are forced to pay for the practices of Muslims.

In another report on educational issues we find that cities such as New York, Dearborn, Dallas and San Diego, with heavy concentrations of Muslims, are providing students of this faith with accommodations for prayer. Some school districts in Michigan have gone as far as purchasing halal food for their school lunches.

Finally, the insanity of this situation is best illustrated by an article from England in The Telegraph which explains that Catholic schools were informed by Catholic bishops in England and Scotland that they should set aside multi-faith prayer rooms to accommodate Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh students. If students and parents of non-Catholic children are so concerned about their faith, why are they sending their children to Catholic schools? And why are Catholic Bishops so spineless? I can imagine the reaction of an Imam in a private Muslim school if parents of non-Muslim students demanded kosher food, or ham and cheese sandwiches and a chapel for their Catholic or Jewish children.

This time of the year, when we hear about the ACLU and other liberal organizations demanding that a creche or a Chanukah menorah be removed from public places in the name of an imaginary constitutional command for "separation of church and state," their silence on Muslim religion encroachment into public institutions is deafening.