Weekly Opinion Editorial

COURT SHOULD NOT OVERRULE VOTERS!

by Steve Fair

Senator Anthony Sykes, (R-Moore) was the author of SQ #755 which passed overwhelmingly by state voters in November (70%-30%). It amended the Oklahoma state constitution by requiring that Oklahoma courts rely on federal or state laws when handing down decisions concerning cases and prohibited them from using international law or Sharia law when making rulings.

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Immediately after the passage of the state question The Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit claiming the measure was unconstitutional because it unfairly targeted Muslims. Federal district judge Vicki Miles LaGrange agreed with CAIR and issued a temporary injunction delaying implemention of the bill.

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The lawsuit is now in the United States Court of Appeal for the 10^th circuit. On May 10th, the ACLU filed a brief on behalf of the plaintiff. They stated: “This amendment is nothing more than a blatant attempt to subvert the Constitution by enshrining anti-Muslim bigotry into state law The idea that followers of an entire faith should be treated like second-class citizens is ugly, discriminatory and profoundly un-American.”

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Sharia law is Muslim or Islamic law. It is based on the Quran and the religion of Islam. Most Muslim states are theocracies, so religious texts are law. Here are a few examples of Sharia Laws that all Muslims scholars agree on. (1) Drinkers, gamblers and those who fail to offer prayer five times a day must be whipped. (2) A husband may beat his disobedient wife. (3) A thief must have a hand cut off. (4) An adulterer should be stoned to death. (5) Anyone who leaves Islam must be killed.

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Critics of SQ 755 say its passage was unnecessary because Sharia law is not a threat in the United States and in particular Oklahoma, but based on how Sharia law has grown worldwide, SQ 755 got in front of an issue that threatens our way of life.

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Sharia Law entered Europe after WWII when the weakened European nations retracted from their colonies, bringing to Europe their former colonial subjects as both refugees and cheap labor from such Muslim nations as Pakistan (UK), Turkey (Germany) and Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia (France).

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Initially, Sharia law was applied discretely within the small Muslim communities of Europe. But after two generations of high birth rate and immigration, those communities have grown to where the Sharia law has now challenged the traditional rule of law in many European nations.

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In Germany, for example, Muslim men have successfully used the Sharia law in court to defend their right to beat their wives and to practice polygamy.

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In United Kingdom, where Islamic imams now outnumber Christian pastors and converting empty church buildings into mosques has become a cottage industry, the Archbishop of Canterbury - the leader of the Church of England - recently stated that adopting elements of the Sharia law into the English judicial system was “unavoidable”.

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British Muslim Cleric Anjem Choudary has said, “We believe the whole of the world must be under Shariah. America is not blessed by God. The American dream has become a nightmare.”

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Former CIA director R. James Woolsey estimates that the Saudis have spent nearly $90 billion since the mid-1970s to export their ideology into Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike. That may well be a conservative estimate.

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Awad and the ACLU’s reaction to Oklahoma voters’ rejection of Sharia law should be taken note of. If they don’t want to apply Sharia law in US courts as Awad has publically stated, then why challenge a law that bans it?

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The answer may be in a document was seized in 1982 by the Swiss government that outlined a 12 point strategy to “establish an Islamic government on earth,” identified as The Project. According to Swiss authorities, it was prepared by Islamic researchers and presented a multi phased long term approach to the cultural invasion of the West. One of those tenets was the incorporation of Sharia law into society and to use deceit as a means to accomplish it.

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Sykes says, “I firmly believe that the people of Oklahoma want us to defend SQ 755 and do everything to ensure that their voice is heard. As its author, I am committed to doing everything I can to see that SQ 755 takes effect in Oklahoma. As legislators, we owe it to the people to see that their voice is heard and not give up at the first sign of trouble.”

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In past years, courts overturning poll results were rare, but that is changing. At this point, the fate of SQ 755 rests in the hands of the 10^th Circuit. Sykes is optimistic the judges will not overrule the will of the people of Oklahoma. Let’s hope not.