Analyzing the Anti-Sharia Law Protests

I�m out of town once again this week, so here is an article that I wrote on June 12^th.

            Over the weekend, ACT for America scheduled a series of protests across the country known as the �March Against Sharia.� The protesters expressed that they were against the Islamization of America and Sharia law. ACT for America has been labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group and the organization has ties to white supremacist groups. However, one of the speakers at these rallies stated, �We are not anti-Muslim, we are anti-radical Islam.�

            The rallies themselves had very little turn out with most cities only leading marches with a few dozen people. The largest protest was in San Bernardino, California, the site of the 2015 terrorist attack, where there were about 200 people marching. The national spotlight was focused on these events when groups of people against the protests joined in and created tense and sometimes violent interactions. It was not a good situation.

            These protests were not that horrendous or really that bad, but they were protesting something that does not exist. Sharia law is not coming to America. We do not live in a theocracy, but a democracy. Muslims represent 0.9% of the total population of the United States. They do not have a big impact on the laws passed by our government. And they do not all want Sharia law to be implemented in America. Some of those Muslims came to the United States to escape that strict set of laws. Many Muslims do not adhere to the codes in Sharia Law, as many Christians do not believe everything written in the Bible. There are circles of Muslims and Christians who do take these sorts of laws seriously, but they do not represent the majority.

            The beliefs among conservative Christians and conservative Muslims are not all that different. According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of US Muslims and 70% of US Christians believe that religion is very important in life. It also says that 47% of US Muslims and 45% of US Christians both attend worship services every week and that 35% of US Muslims and 30% of US Christians believe that their religion is the one true faith. Comparably, these two religions are not all that different. Yet, the people protesting Sharia law coming to America are predominantly conservative Christians.

            ACT for America says that the marches, �Are in support of basic human rights for all,� and that Sharia law is, �incompatible with Western democracy.� That is a valid point.

            However, there is a flaw with that argument. There are Christians in this country who avidly believe even the most bizarre statements in the Bible. 60% of Americans believe that the story about Noah�s ark actually happened and that Moses parted the Red Sea. There are verses in the Bible that say that wives should submit to their husbands �as the Lord� (Ephesians 5:22), that slaves should respect their masters (1 Peter 2:8), and that women should be silent (1 Timothy 2:12). These laws are incompatible with Western democracy. And since 70% of the US is Christian, shouldn�t these protesters focus their attention on that instead?

            Christian lawmakers in Indiana helped pass a bill in Indiana that allowed businesses to refuse service to a customer if they felt it was offensive to their religion. In North Carolina, the previous Christian Governor signed a law that required people to use the bathroom that matched the gender on their birth certificate. These two laws are based on religion and allow discrimination. They are not compatible with Western democracy. Where was ACT for America then?

            Oh right, I forgot. Groups like ACT for America only protest when it fits their agenda so much so that they rally against threats that do not exist associated with a tiny minority. They turn a blind eye to the Christian majority that actively seeks to pass laws that adhere to the beliefs in the Bible and not those of the Constitution. ACT for America claims that they are protecting, �basic human rights.� They aren�t. If they were, they would have been standing outside of the Indiana State House in March of 2015 when the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was signed by then Governor Mike Pence. That�s all for this week.