Both Islam and Christianity are nothing more than fantasy role playing cults. It is pure stupidity to incorporate religious views into law. Proof of this is in every single legal system which has ever done so. Sharia law in Britain is no different than forcing Australian Rules football rules on to the British people as law. Ifran takes superstition too seriously and did not consider the fact that Islam is not important to those who do not belong to the cult. Certainly there are many Moslem Javans who know nothing of Dyak culture and indeed the Dyaks recieve less respect from Moslem colonists than the Middle East recieve from the U.S and Europe who are not colonising them. It is simply not important for non Muslims to understand Islam and nor should it be. People have lives to get on with than to have to become expert in every superstition that exists. Gods be offended , let only he who is god say so, everybody who claims offence on gods behalf, or speaks for god is claiming to be god.

The Prejudice that all the West is the same is also glaring in the article. It is ignorance to think of the West as a monoculture, oblivious to the difference between Britain and America, Australia and France, Brazil and Portugal , Spain and Mexico, Holland and Greece, Argentina and New Zealand. Im not even sure Perth dwellers are the same culture as Melbournites.

Any religious influence over law and politics is offensive and morally corrupt.

All legal systems under Western Civilisation as well as non Western ones under Christian influence have all has thei laws influenced by the teachings of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament and the Church. This is not offensive but something really good and morally objective.
Your fantasy of some kind of non religious and false assumption of fairness and rationality by doing so is partially realised today in the evil of family court legislation since 1974; pornography and lack of censorship that has increased lust and sex crimes.
Crimes against persons was properly protected by Church teachings which are instructions on the Gospel. Since secualr and politically correct laws in the post Christian new century there is more crime against the weak, the vulnerable, against women and children.

I completely disagree Webbly , secular law and the concept of state grew out of the need to protect humanity from religion. The modern English legal and political system is born out of Henry's proof that the Roman Church is a falsehood and later modernised as a response to the terrorism of the puritans. Mormons are complete slaves to their pre-scientology cult. King Wenceles declared his state was greater than god and saved lives condemned by the church.Every instance where religion has an influence on politics tyranny reigns, you only need to glance at the monuments of great evil , Salem , the Bible Belt , September 11, the Taliban.

All religion is offensive , it should not be my problem what your superstitions are as it should not be your problem what my superstitions are. All religious beliefs are immoral for far too many reasons to list here and a person who does not hide his spiritual beliefs can be only no good. Principly at the core since no god can be offered , only the falseness of scripture and hear-say and again only based on childish notions of magic and the supernatural. Of course this means all gods are false and then it stands no religion is justified and so all religious law is injustice ,and of course injustice is evil.

I completely disagree with you West, secular law in France and the then German States grew out of the hatred of the one true God and of His One true Church. France guillotined many from mob violence known as 'the peoples' courts/tribunals' ( sound familiar?) and German Princes wanted to increase their wealth. Secualr traders from Holland and England didn't wish to have Church constraints upon their lust for mammon and slavery. Modern man needs protecting from himself eg abortion, decline in Europe's population due to 1 child per family now in 'catholic'?/Spain. We actually need more religion and soon the West will get it when black African and Asian Catholic priests, brothers and nuns will come in droves to re-Catholicise the one true Gospel to our shores and also to the UK and Europe. Thanks be to God.

I still disagree withy you Webby. Every instance where religion has interferred with politics results in the abhorent abuse of human rights. The belief in god is possibly the greatest moral cancer known to man. Morality is a good example of the source of the problem. All of the largest religions have bad values and teach imorality. They all claim to be moral, to teach anti morals as a point of propaganda on behalf of a religion. The only good Christians or Christians capable of a moral life or Muslims capable of a moral life all lead a secular life style. for that Jesus is a good example to use here (pretending he was real and not just a fictional character) because Jesus was an exclusionist and taught exclusionism which is why Jesus was in fact evil.The core value of Christianity was always ethnic cleansing, due to the fact that Jesus preached exclusionism and so we have it. Not that any other religion is better , but of course the fact that all religions are based on supoerstition and egoism there is more to the story. In a nut shell Tthe only people saying Christians are good are Christians only , the only people who are saying muslims are Muslims only , and god is a lie so why should religionists be believed anyway and they deny factual history destroying credibility as well as all that being immoral anyway. So we are better off living in a justice ruled free democracy as secularist will have it than under the Taliban as religionists will have it.

Human rights came out of the Catholic tradition with law, education, universities, science. Politics is not a vacuum and interaction, not interference, by religious people is at least as equal as others who give their input. Idolising or fearing dictators, totalitarians, evil men and their bad decisions is the moral cancer; not God. You are not talking rationally as is the subconscious assumption you are working from West and the sleight of psychological hand you are pleading your viewers to go along with your unsubstantiated grudge against a Creator you do not wish to get to know. You are confusing the evil morality of false religions with the one true religion which is Jesus and His one true Catholic Church. You are equating the moral systems of the Catholic Gospel with other religions. They are often diamentrically opposed and so equating them as "as good' or 'just as bad as one another' is called the sin of religious indifferentism. This is a heresy( heresy meaning a choice to do wrong thinking by holding a wrong belief not consonant with truth). The Catholic Church's apostolic authority comes from the One True Truine God.

The 'morality' of secularists and atheists isn't all bad but ONLY insofar that they agree with Christ's Gospel. Secularised or moderate Muslims decide NOT to uphold the Islamic teachings to the extent that they differ from the Gospel. In other words moderate Muslims or secularised Muslims are conforming common sense and conscience which is not the monopoly of Catholics. They are not really Muslims and this is a good thing.My church teaches that the natural law is in the hearts and minds of even non Catholics, such as Muslims, Buddhists and yes even you as an agnostic or atheist. The only difference for a Catholic is that conscience cannot be used as an excuse to do one own thing as the Gospel upholds the conscience in total.
Your last 12 lines dear West are irrational. A bad look. Arrogant monopoly on rationality is meant to be the atheists' drawcard. Doing your cause an embarassing disservice.
Try again.