With the notable and predictable exception of Pericles.. most of us seem to be in agreement.. quite a feat considering the breadth of political posture we hold.

I recommend all listen to the ABC Religion Report on the undercover mosque program.. "the return" its available as a podcast/mp3.

oH..Fraccy.. My Bible says "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" ... err.. u'd prefer a beer swilling pot bellied slob yelling out every 5 minutes from his nut stewn recliner in front of the TV- "dARRRRRlin... grab me with another VB will ya!"

Now ur gonna lecture me about "It doesn't follow that a non Christian will be like that" :)

I know that..but you have to admit the verse is nice eh ?

Efranke,
Haven’t we seen problems with monocultural societies, too?
For any difficulties of multiculturalism practical solutions need to be found. No society is perfect.
I prefer multicultural societies because there is more diversity, which I find more interesting.
Living in a monoculture society means that there’s more pressure to conform (you mentioned Japan). Having to conform means less freedom.
It also means acculturation by assimilation into the dominant culture.
Anyway, I’m not going to argue about mono vs multicultural- it’s how I feel and you don’t have to agree.

Steel,
Well, I might be wrong but so what? I don’t claim to have all the answers nor do I fully understand Sharia and Islam and I’m still trying to understand the whole issue.
I just want to express my concerns, and I will.
Like Steven and PALE, I’m concerned that living by Sharia law might not be a free choice for every Muslim especially the women.
Muslims may be pressured, even if this pressure is just a result of needing to feel loyal to one’s religion.

While domestic violence happens in every culture, in Sharia law domestic violence is no ground for divorce as far as I understand.
Do you remember the ruling by Judge Christa Datz-Winter who denied a woman divorce because “The Koran instructs that men are in charge of women.”?
http://townhall.com/columnists/KathrynJeanLopez/2007/04/03/human_rights_versus_sharia_law

I’m also finding it hard to accept that our courts should have to be divisive and treat people differently merely based on their faith; I’d rather support equality before the law.
I also wonder how it’s possible for Muslims to decide on one uniform law. Sharia law aint Sharia law.
I suppose the UK Muslims have to structure or have structured their own Sharia law- one which is adapted to the UK circumstances?

Pericles,
Thanks for your explanatory post, I will give it some more thought and go over your links over the weekend when I have more time.
So do I understand correctly that within this Alternative Dispute resolution (ADR), other groups –including Hell’s Angels- would also be able to introduce their laws?

Continued

PALE
There’s nothing wrong with “real”Australians, whatever your definition of “real” might be.
It’s just that I find diversity more interesting. No insult was intended.
It’s like saying that there’s nothing wrong with “real” Australian food, but it’s interesting to have a wider choice and variety from cuisines that other cultures have to offer.
We can still enjoy diversity while living under one law.

Fractelle,
I think that Polycarp sounds a little over-joyous because more people than usual agree with some of the things he says.
There, there, Polycarp, I’m sure someone will laugh at your beer-drinking atheist joke.
*Rolls eyes*

Celiva
I think you will find many people claiming Australian food can be bland are not from Australia in the first place.
Are you born in Australia? See my point is people want what they were raised with.

Its to them Australia would be a tad bland if they couldn’t feel at home by popping into an Asian store to go home and cook what they have eaten before they arrived.

To them it would be sad if they couldn’t pop down to China town for example and mix with their own.
I agree some of the tucker is nice but at what price Celiva?

Have you noticed all the Kebab shops? Have you noticed the certificates on the walls?

Have you seen the customers walking up to the stores and checking out the certificate that hangs on the wall?

It’s a Halal certificate of accreditation Celiva and let me tell you something- If there is no Halal accredited certificate they DONT buy it.
That is simply putting other business right out of the market.

We are talking about 'Here' Celiva right now in Australia.

These places are everywhere and most people don’t seem to even notice.

I think you would be probably one of the very few people on this forum that would actually care enough to make some enquires as to how an animal is slaughtered but few do.

So the moral of the story is - If only Boaz really understood he may have given animal welfare a higher priority.

But then we reep what we sew Boaz! The answer has always been there for the churches to win their debate about religious power in Australia.
All they had to do was look at Animal Welfare.

Islam is controlled by what we eat.

Pity you didn’t care about how the animals were treated- It might have helped the church Boaz!

Dont go and kick the dog now will you

Celivia asks:

"So do I understand correctly that within this Alternative Dispute resolution (ADR), other groups –including Hell’s Angels- would also be able to introduce their laws?"

Within the very LIMITED scope of disputes that may be settled through arbitration, and provided the parties to the dispute FREELY give their consent, the answer is "yes."

The issue really is not about sharia law or bikey law or any other kind of law.

The issue is whether the parties to the dispute are in a POSITION TO REFUSE if they so choose. As I've said repeatedly, especially in cases involving domestic violence I doubt that is the case.

My fear is that women may be railroaded into consenting to arbitration before a sharia court.

Even the usual apologists for Islam on these boards have not come up with a satisfactory response to this issue.

Pericles, what do you have to say?

I've stayed out of this discussion largely because it's so obviously a stevelmeyer troll to bring out the Islamophobes - at which level it's been moderately successful. However, while I'm obviously not one of them, I don't think incorporating Sharia or any other religious laws within existing arbitration systems is a good idea in the UK or Australia.

Of course, any number of interest groups like churches, sporting bodies, RSL clubs and bikie gangs are entitled to have their own rules and laws and to apply them within their organisations as they see fit - as long as they are subordinate to the rule of secular law which is established by government legislation or by common law precedent in properly constituted courts of law or tribunals. I see little value in allowing any of these interest groups to be able to have their internal determinations backed up by the State.

PALE&IF: << I think you will find many people claiming Australian food can be bland are not from Australia in the first place.
Are you born in Australia? See my point is people want what they were raised with. >>

I was born and raised in Australia, and I agree completely with Celivia. Australian society in the 1950s was boring, repressed and introspective. Multiculturalism changed our society and culture for the better permanently, but that doesn't mean that we need to enshrine rules and values of various subcultures in our legal system.

If people are silly or indoctrinated enought to want to obey the edicts of informal Sharia "courts" they should be free to do so, but they should also have recourse to the secular legal system provided by the State, which should prevail if in conflict with Sharia "law".