Oklahoma to Vote on Islamic Law Ban

...except Sharia has never been used in the state
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 29, 2010 7:14 AM CDT
Oklahoma to Vote on Islamic Law Ban
A Sharia law official whips a man convicted of gambling with a rattan cane during a public caning in Indonesia ... not Oklahoma.   (AP Photo/Heri Juanda)

Next Tuesday, the people of Oklahoma will have their say on a measure to ban Islamic law from being used in the state—even though it never has been, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the US as a whole, only a few cases have even alluded to Sharia law. “Oklahoma does not have that problem yet," says Rep. Rex Duncan, who authored the measure. "But why wait until it's in the courts?" He adds that his intention is not to target Muslims, but to single out "activist judges.... That's all I'm picking on."

In a July poll, 49% of voters supported the measure, 24% opposed it, and 27% were undecided. Now, a group that opposes radical Islam is advertising in support of the measure. “The threat,” said a spokesman, “is that Sharia law will be accommodated alongside Western law.” But “there's no threat of Sharia law coming to Oklahoma and America, period," says a rep for an Oklahoma City Muslim group. "It's just a scare tactic."
(More Sharia law stories.)

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