Thursday, March 13, 2008

Vatican official on Sharia in the West: "It is not just a question of good will. There are juridical aspects that are not reconcilable."

Yep. Now, will this statement spark Sharia Rage? " Vatican official says Anglican head naive on Sharia," by Philip Pullella for Reuters:

ROME (Reuters) - The Vatican's top man for relations with Islam on Tuesday criticized the Archbishop of Canterbury as mistaken and "naive" for suggesting that some aspects of Sharia law in Britain were unavoidable. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, in a wide-ranging discussion with reporters about Christian-Muslim relations, also said he was confident that a new, permanent body between the Vatican and Muslims would help defuse misunderstandings in the future.

"I think it was a mistake, a mistake because, above all, one has to ask what type of Sharia. And then, it was a bit naive," Tauran said in answer to a question at a breakfast meeting.

As welcome as Tauran's remarks against accepting Sharia law are, he does not yet seem to be aware that there has been no substantive formal division of the nastier aspects of Sharia law -- death for apostasy, stoning for adultery, a woman's testimony equalling half of a man's, and so on -- from seemingly more benign things like an individual's desire not to involve interest rates in a financial transaction. Sharia is a total system; there is not a "Sharia 2.0" that repudiates those issues. Such an undertaking would be seen as heretical, and punishable, of course, under the dictates of... Sharia.

Rather, apologists insist that Sharia really isn't as bad as we think it is, similar to the usual excuses about the meaning of jihad.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sparked a religious and political storm in Britain and beyond last month when he raised the prospect of Islamic law in the United Kingdom.

Williams, spiritual leader of the world's 77 million Anglicans, provoked a string of tabloid headlines with the best-selling Sun launching a campaign for him to quit.

"One can understand his good intentions but it seems to me he did not take into consideration either them (the Muslims), the English juridical system, or the reality of Sharia," said Tauran, president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Sharia, the body of Islamic religious law based primarily on the Koran, as well as the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad, has been attacked by many in the West over its treatment of women and punishments for adultery and apostasy.

The row fed into a broader debate on integrating Britain's 1.8 million Muslims. This issue assumed greater urgency after suicide bombings by British Muslim militants killed 52 people in London's transport system in July 2005.

Tauran said: "It is not just a question of good will. There are juridical aspects that are not reconcilable (with Sharia)."
Thanks Dhimmi Watch

No comments: