Should religious beliefs overide government law? ( Archived) (35)

If it is the will of the majority of constituents to introduce secular legislation then no.

Unfortunatley I am presently living under Sharia law.

I'm not a fan....

Hell no

It's interesting that so far only westerners have replied. I wonder how Muslims living under Sharia law feel about it.

I agree so my answer to the question is, "HELL NO!"

Yes, but I dont believe he is a native Qatari. Most of the workforce in Qatar is imported from other countries.

That statement would only be true if 100% of the people agreed and that NEVER happens. I don't religious BS to enter laws. (which it does) If the majority were to overrule the minority, Democracy is just as bad as dictatorship. There are certain inalienable rights that should not be infringed upon. What if you were a Christian or whatever religion you are apart of and you lived in a country dominated by another religion? (in particular one you despise) Would you want them making religious laws that are in direct conflict with your rights and belief system???

Secularism does not promote atheism or religious beliefs, it respects all rights to all. I may be an atheist but I would never take someone's right to believe. I would actually fight for someone's right to have religion even though religion disgusts me. However, I do have a problem when religion is used to harm others in any manner and that includes infringing on the rights of others.

You are, of course, correct ladies. I'm most certainly not local.
I am broadly Western in origin and hopefully my English language ability is, if nothing else, something of a giveaway.

Religiously, I waver between Athesism and Pantheism though to descibe myself as mercurial on this point is something of an understatement. I have ongoing deep debates with my boss and my technical manager (both are Muslim, though neither local) regarding the validity of Islam and religion in general.

It gets more complex. My boss's daughter is also staunchly Muslim and despite being London born and an honours student appears to be not bright enough not to actively descriminate against me based on my beliefs (or lack thereof). I know she likes me (she writes my love notes and tells me I'm hot!) yet at the same time convinces herself she needs to find a Muslim boy. Her father says that I need to convince the family that I'm a good Christian as Muslims are allowed to marry Christians because they are 'Of the book' and he wants to lend me an English version of the Quran. I'd like to read it out of a interest in theology but suspect I'm likely to become more atheistic rather than less after devouring the propogander.

The big problem is....she is super smart and super hot. A lethal combination, I think you'll agree. Shame she feels she needs a 1500 year old text to tell her how to live and worse, expects me to also.

Did I mention how much I love bacon?

With respect to the locals, I can tell you that Sharia law here is the law. There is nothing else and the locals would have it no other way. To them, the religion and the law are the same thing and being staunch followers of their faith they have a high rate of adherence and hence, a low crime rate.

Of course, this is not a democracy. It is a constitutional monarchy ruled absolutely by a herditary monarch (Emir) as an emirate. There seems to be little apetite for democracy here. While the native population have considerable income derived from the vast wealth that the oil and gas industry generates there will be few drivers for change. The locals don't need to work and the imported labour (whose number I count among) are subject to varying levels of discrimination and subjugation.

Still, it can't be all beer and skittles can it?

That would depend on how old you consider the commandments to be. The bible itself does not place them very many generations old and there are plenty of other social codes of conduct which were in force at the same time or earlier than this theoretically.

Social legislation was introduced by the anchient Egyptians, the Sumarians, the Babylonians, the Athenians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Romans...the list goes on.