Hat tip-Margo I.
The Archbishop of Canterbury says the adoption of certain aspects of Sharia law in the UK “seems unavoidable”.Dr Rowan Williams told Radio 4’s World at One that the UK has to “face up to the fact” that some of its citizens do not relate to the British legal system.
Dr Williams argues that adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law would help maintain social cohesion.
For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.
| An approach to law which simply said – there’s one law for everybody – I think that’s a bit of a danger Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury |
He stresses that “nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well”.
But Dr. Williams says the argument that “there’s one law for everybody… I think that’s a bit of a danger”.
There is, and should only be, one law which covers all people and to suggest it can be otherwise is to seriously damage our rights Patricia London, UK
Dr Williams adds: “What we don’t want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people’s religious consciences.”
“We don’t either want a situation where, because there’s no way of legally monitoring what communities do… people do what they like in private in such a way that that becomes another way of intensifying oppression inside a community.”
Multiculturalism ‘divisive’
His comments are likely to fuel the debate over multiculturalism in the UK.
Last month, one of Dr. William’s colleagues, the Bishop of Rochester, said that non-Muslims may find it hard to live or work in some areas of the UK.
The Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said there was “hostility” in some areas and described the government’s multicultural policies as divisive.
He said there had been a worldwide resurgence of Islamic extremism, leading to young people growing up alienated from the country they lived in.
He has since received death threats and has been placed under police protection.
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