Shari'a Part 1

Submitted by Stombs (United States), Jul 28, 2004 at 13:10

Shari'a is the remnant of middle-eastern tribal societies. It was spread when Islam took its turn conquer peoples who were content to live in peace. Various conquerors leave their imprint on the people they have conquered. The Greeks and Macedonians gave us learning and art, the Romans gave us law, Arabs gave us an early enlightenment that led to the Western Renaissance, and the Mongols contributed fertilizer and added to our gene pool.

Shari'a is consistent with the natural history of a tribal Chaldean people, but it is inimical to Western and Asian traditions. We view Shari'a as a cruel code that punishes people for exercising their natural impulses. Western civilization is lenient about the behavior that doesn't harm others even though it might offend some. Compare the Code of Hamaburabi, Mosaic law, Shari'a and English common law.

Shari'a is an absolute (totalitarian) system that does not tolerate ambiguity. It melds religious values with political power. The arbitrars of justice are a clergy immersed in a narrow system of justice characteristic of a post-Paleolithic civilization that was an early experiment in civilization.

The tension between Arabic fundamentalism and Western Liberalism is the issue in World War 3, now being enacted in the deserts and cities of Iraq. Israel is the focus of discontent. If Israel were to disappear tomorrow, the tension would persist. But Israel's existence is the immediate concern of Islamic discontent.

Islamic and Israeli extremists are not only unwilling to compromise, they are willing to prosecute their causes even though all of humanity should fall. Western civilization is now being tested. Will it have the backbone to protect its wonderful ways of life?

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