It seems on a daily basis we see more bizarre legislative proposals coming from the Republican / Tea Party crowd. If you've read some of them you know what I mean. Whether it's a proposed law in Arizona to discriminate against Latinos or a proposed South Dakota law authorizing the murder of abortion providers, you have to wonder where the hell these people find inspiration. The Bible? The 1994 Contract Against America? The 2010 GOP version of the Contract Against America? No, that's not it!
It's WIKIPEDIA.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/04/alabama-bill-to-ban-sharia-law-was-cribbed-from-wikipedia/
Alabama bill to ban Sharia law was cribbed from Wikipedia
Yeah, you read it right. The bill was introduced by Alabama State Senator Gerald Allen. To give you some idea of the depth of this man's thinking, he was asked during an interview to define Sharia. However, he was unable to do so but quickly added his staff had drafted the legislation. A member of Allen's staff acknowledged the Sharia definition contained in the proposed legislation was lifted from Wikipedia.
Has Sharia law ever been used in Alabama? To date, there are no recorded instances of anyone in Alabama attempting to have Sharia law recognized by any court in Alabama.
As noted in the Raw Story article, "Allen's bill is very similar to one passed last fall in Oklahoma, which was described by legal experts as amounting to an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Like the Oklahoma law, it would also ban the use of international law in state courts."
"A University of Oklahoma law professor called that law as 'a mess' and noted, 'I would like to see Oklahoma politicians explain if this means that the courts can no longer consider the Ten Commandments. Isn't that a precept of another culture and another nation? The result of this is that judges aren't going to know when and how they can look at sources of American law that were international law in origin.'"
The only way I can describe Allen is he's acting crazier than a sprayed roach!
Allen has a history of introducing draconian laws. For example, in 2004, he introduced a bill to ban books written by gay authors from schools and libraries. His suggestion for these books was "Dig a hole and dump them in it." Obviously, Allen isn't the most tolerant person in the world.
Some of the more extreme conservatives have, in recent years, gone out of their way to create irrational fear. When he introduced the anti-gay books legislation, Allen told the Guardian that "traditional family values" were under attack but as the Raw Story article noted "he was unable then to provide local examples of threats to heterosexuality."
Now, he's using irrational fear to create hatred against Muslims and, similar to the mythical threats to heterosexuality, Allen can't document a single case of Sharia law being used in Alabama. What I find distressing are the large numbers of Americans who fall for the kind of fear mongering that Allen and his ilk engage in on a daily basis.
Let's be honest. The chances of Sharia law being implemented in the United States is similar to the chances of Sarah Palin winning a Jeopardy contest.
I have a suggestion. Let's demand Allen and the rest of the extreme far-right conservatives in this country who don't have a damn clue about the constitution go back to doing what they've done best for more than a hundred years.
Don the white sheets and burn crosses in some barren field outside Waco.
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