Muckroom Follies 2.23.08 Another Gold Nugget

Like the parent of a kid who swallows a whistle, it is sometimes rewarding for one to squish through the muckroom's detritus. Over at Townhall's shoveling out room, another gold nugget penned by Diana West was recently found.

"Ignoring Sharia's Advance Extremely Stupid" takes to task E.J. Dionne, Jr., who recently (according to West) wrote a bit skeptically about the dangers of Sharia-encroachment, at least as viewed by conservatives: The Washington Post's E.J. Dionne Jr. thinks there's "something peculiar" about conservatives who turn "Islamic extremism into a mighty ideological force with the power to overrun the world."

West is more accurate than Dionne with regards to Sharia, one might speculate. Western democracies surely should not be expected to accommodate Islamic civil laws in their own legal structure. If religious persons wish to have an intra-religion set of laws, that seems perfectly fine. No one around here is agitating for the elimination of Mormons' or Catholics' abilities to set membership rules. Or with cultural "arrangements" for marriage.

In cases where religious observance seems to be in conflict with civil laws, a simple rule of thumb ought to be one of reliance on common sense. For instance, there is a woman suing the San Bernardino sheriff's office because she was required to remove her head scarf during recent problems.

Um, recent news reports indicate that some Islamic extremists have used the flowing robes, as well as women, at agents of bombings. Civil law and the Constitution are not suicide pacts. Of course people should be subject to search, especially when it is possible to conceal deadly weapons upon the body beneath loose coverings.

All of that is probably beside the point of West and Dionne. Too many people are desensitized about the dangers posed by all religious paraphernalia and thought.

It is peculiar that more people of all political persuasions don't pay more attention. And be more skeptical.

Trust, if you must, but verify.

And be wary.

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