http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/opinion/?id=24330
[Middle East Online] 14 Feb 2008--When it comes to Islamic law, or Sharia, words certainly do come easy if you’re a man. You can marry four wives, receive double the inheritance a woman gets and you can end your marriage simply by saying “I divorce you” three times.
So why not pontificate?
Words are especially cheap if you’re the Archbishop of Canterbury, who ignited a social storm in the UK last week by saying that the adoption of some parts of Sharia alongside Britain's legal system "seems unavoidable" in certain circumstances.
Remember please that Dr. Rowan Williams is the head of the global Anglican community, the U.S. branch of which ordained a gay priest in 2003. But the archbishop clearly does not believe in wishing unto others as you would unto your own. He extends no such progressive ideals to Muslims. Most interpretations of Sharia consider homosexuality an abomination.
He probably thinks his “tolerance” for Sharia is progressive enough in light of the rabid Islamophobia that mars parts of Europe today. But it is a tolerance that condones only the most conservative options for Muslims. It is at best a form of the racism of lower expectations -- the cheapest bargaining chip of liberal guilt.
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