Friday, December 02, 2011

Sharia Law or Koranic Court?

When we consider multi-culturalism, we think of many things but what comes to my mind is that this type of thinking gives precedence to culture(read religion) over civil law.
It is no surprise that a spokesman for a group of Somali muslims in Australia would call for Sharia law with the argument that it is necessary for their "culture". He knows that he's got the multi-culturalist advocates by the short and curlies and he's going for it.
In Australia we are more disadvantaged than the rest of the world's western societies because we(excluding me) have a collective guilt about our history with aborigines. Hence the desire to bend over backwards to accommodate them and hopefully live more at ease with our collective guilt.
I don't feel any part of this collective guilt because (a) I wasn't born at the time and (b) I had nothing to do with it.
And just so that those amongst us (including me) who are totally opposed to the introduction of Sharia Law in Australia, he refers to it as Koranic Law(see statement below by Attorney General). Is this cute or what?

BTW, here's an example of Koranic justice, rape victim guilty of adultery (because she was raped) now must marry attacker.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/rape-victim-may-have-to-marry-attacker/story-fn3dxity-1226211888058

A VICTORIAN Somali community leader has called for Koranic courts to hear cases involving Muslims in the same way Koori courts are offered as an alternative for Aboriginal offenders.Somali Community of Victoria president Abdurahman Osman said Koranic courts would maintain Islamic culture while also reducing legal costs borne by the state.
"Instead of applying sharia law in Australia, it is better to have a Koranic court (like) the court Australia has for the Aborigines," he said. "That could help all African communities, especially the Somali community.
"We need this kind of court, this is our culture."
Indigenous defendants who plead guilty to their charges and live in certain areas can elect to have their case heard in the more informal setting of the Koori court. Indigenous sentencing courts operate in all mainland states and territories, usually as a division of the magistrates court.
Offences involving family violence or sexual assault are not permitted to be heard in the Koori court, but Mr Osman told The Australian domestic issues would be appropriate for a Koranic court, where a jury of elders from the same background as the defendant would rule on the case. "Domestic violence and problems between two families, between husband and wife, and if the crime comes from children, if youth are fighting each other -- these kind of things we could solve in our cultural way," he said.
"We have elders who can deal with these kind of problems in a proper way inside the court, the same as with the Aborigines in Koori court. In our culture everything is solved by the elders."
Other Muslim leaders have previously called for sharia law to be considered in areas such as family law.
A submission from the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils to a parliamentary inquiry on multiculturalism earlier this year called for Muslims to be offered "legal pluralism", prompting Attorney-General Robert McClelland to rule out any changes which would introduce aspects of sharia law.
Mr Osman also flagged the possibility of social unrest among African youth unless more action was taken to address unemployment levels in the community.
Mr Osman has asked Melbourne Greens MP Adam Bandt to push for African employment offices in Victoria and other centres where African migrants have congregated.
A spokesman for Mr Bandt said he had "qualified support" for the proposal and had already held initial discussions with the Gillard government.

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