Sharia Law Comes to America

I first heard this story on the radio yesterday coming home from work, and it shocked me. The city of Dearborn, Michigan is arresting and jailing Christians for peacefully speaking to Muslims about Christianity and handing out Bibles in public areas. (For those who don't know, Dearborn and other surrounding towns are home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the U.S.) Several of the arrests were caught on video so there is clear evidence that the Christians were not "disturbing the peace" as the police claim. By contrast, after the arrests a crowd of Muslims gathered around and were shouting profanities and violent epithets -- yet none of them were arrested for "disturbing the peace." In one case, the missionaries, including an 18-year-old girl, were thrown in jail overnight. In another, the missionaries were actually brought to trial, but after jurors saw the video of the incident they immediately acquitted them of any wrongdoing. Even after their acquittal, the mayor and other city officials continued to publicly attack them. The full story is here on the website of the Thomas More Law Center, which is bringing a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of these missionaries.

Yes, folks, this is America. We are used to hearing about people arrested and jailed for their faith in other countries. But who would have thought it could actually happen here in America? Essentially the city of Dearborn is unofficially enforcing Sharia law, which prohibits people of any other religion from attempting to proselytize Muslims. And in the process, it is trampling on people's constitutional first amendment rights. Why are city officials doing this? I think it's obvious they are doing this because either they feel intimidated by or they want to curry favor with the large Muslim population in their community, which obviously supports their actions.

We all know that most if not all Islamic countries are governed by repressive regimes that deny even the most basic civil rights to their citizens, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion. What a lot of Americans don't realize is that many Muslims who are living in Western countries are fighting hard against freedom of speech and religion as well. In Europe, many Muslim communities have become islands unto themselves where national laws are not enforced and where the police are afraid to go. Muslims have been rallying in the streets in England and other countries, demanding the adoption of Sharia law. (Sharia law, for those who don't know, is the strict Muslim law code that calls for the utter subjugation of women, draconian punishments for moral violations such as homosexuality or adultery, and denies freedom of speech or religion.) Most people assume Sharia law can't happen in America, but the Dearborn incident demonstrates that it absolutely can if we do not remain vigilent. Kudos to organizations like the Thomas More Law Center that are exposing these incidents.

It's important for all Americans to understand that Sharia law and Muslims who support Sharia law stand for something that is antithetical to our country's values and laws -- in fact they are profoundly hostile to our values. Those who support Sharia law are enemies of freedom and of America's way of life, and we must not allow them to get even the slightest toehold in our country, as they have in many other Western countries. As the famous quote says, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."