Nathan Thompson says a bill being considered by the Arizona legislature is an attack by WASP racists on people of color, religious minorities, and anyone else deemed a threat.
There has been some stir up online about a bill currently being considered in the Arizona state legislature. Members of the American Muslim and Buddhist communities have pointed out the religious bigotry behind the bill, but there is even more lurking behind the words of this bill.
The 2010 “Arizona Foreign Decisions Act” has been reintroduced in 2011 as HB 2582. Among other (statutory) provisions, it:
• Declares the acceptance of Arizona into the Union was a “compact”
• Declares “Congress has no authority to preempt state regulation of state courts”
• Prohibits courts from implementing, referring or incorporating or using “a tenet of any body of religious sectarian law” and specifically includes sharia law, canon law, halacha and karma
• Exempts from the above prohibitions decisions based on Anglo-American legal tradition, laws or case law from Great Britain prior enactment of the statute, or the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, “and the principles on which the United States was founded”
• Prohibits use of any case law or statute from a non-U.S. jurisdiction or “foreign body”, including the United Nations
• Declares decisions that make use of a body of religious sectarian law or foreign law declared void and usages declared to be grounds for impeachment
• Declares these provisions apply to Federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction
• Requires any state or Federal court that construes this statute must do so in a way to confine the power of Congress and the federal judiciary.
I’m going to be quite blunt. This is a secessionist piece of legislation driven by privileged WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) racists who are intent on driving underground or out of Arizona all together people of color, religious minorities, and anyone else deemed a threat. The inclusion of canon law, no doubt, is a pointed shot at the predominantly Catholic Latino/Latina community, which has been a frequent target of all varieties of hatred under the sun in Arizona. Religious and racial oppression have often been linked in the United States (and many other nations) precisely because religious minorities are also, at least in part, racial minorities.
But this bill’s stated contempt for not only national law, but also international law, adds another element — that of secession from the union — which I haven’t seen highlighted in other discussions. The snow birds and others who have become accustomed to enjoying all those pristine golf courses and perfectly green lawns — courtesy of the disappearing Colorado River — want to drive out all the “impediments” currently blocking their paradise on earth.
The three poisons of Buddhism come to mind — greed, hatred, and ignorance. It’s tough to see them coming out in such oppressive terms, but there they are, none the less. Across the U.S., similar, if less wide-reaching laws, are being considered in over a dozen states. While states are claiming near bankruptcy, and millions of people are struggling to find jobs, pay bills, get decent health care, and generally cover their basic needs, this is the kind of horseshit being peddled in response.
For those of you outside of the U.S., or whom aren’t up on your history, there are a few interesting things to consider about Arizona:
- It has only been an official state for 99 years, having become part of the Union on Valentines Day (lol!) in 1912.
- The vast majority of white Arizonans arrived there only after statehood, which makes the claims of white supremacist groups and their sympathizers all the more ridiculous.
- Arizona was part of a broad imperialist expansion of United States territory to the Pacific ocean that occurred in 1840s and 1850s.
- Although much has been made in recent decades about undocumented Latino/Latina immigration across the Mexican/U.S., fairly large Latino/Latina communities have made parts of Arizona home for at least three centuries.
- Navajo, Hopi, and other indigenous groups have called Arizona home for even longer than that.
Given that there isn’t close to a majority of Arizona legislators currently publicly backing this bill, it probably won’t become law. But I don’t think it would be wise to dismiss this as the effort of some tiny fringe group. We might not have reached the stage of government ousting that has spread across the Middle East, but things are really flammable in the U.S. right now, and there’s no telling what exactly could come next. All the more reason to keep training yourself in the tools of non-violence, and to help spread those tools to others, however you can.
Photo Credit
Photographer Unknown.
Try Sharia Law in Arizona to clean your state from drug dealers and criminals…. http://www.sharia4america.com/story.php?sid=36
EarthandIce – A few things.
Honor killings are not specific to Islam. They are a social convention that impacts women who are Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, among other groups.
Many Americans, and others, mistakenly view anything in Islam as uniform and controlled by a single set of views and understandings. what Sharia Law looks like, how decisions might be made, and even how individuals or groups of Muslims view it in contrast to the laws of their nation are as diverse as any other religious tradition.
Someone on my blog have brought up the example of Sharia Law courts in the United Kingdom. However, the courts in the UK function the same way as Jewish beth din courts, both being able to offer binding arbitration, but neither being able to supercede UK national law.
The number of Muslims currently living in Arizona is less than 1% of the total population.
I personally would be more concerned with the separatist elements of Arizona’s state government who seem to desire tossing out national (and international) laws structures whenever they don’t like it.
As a US citizen, I approve upholding our Constitution. That same Constitution also states that it’s basic freedoms supersede the states ability to undermine those freedoms. My country fought a bloody war for four years (1861-1865) to uphold those freedoms.
One of the basic tenants of that document is the division of Church and State as well as freedom of religion. We are free to worship as we choose.
From my understanding, the only group mentioned in this article that wants to supersede the Constitution is the Muslims with Sharia Law. It may be that I have not seen articles about the other groups.
I have not heard of a Buddhist or Hispanic community upholding honor killings as ethical or legal, which Sharia Law seems to. From my understanding Sharia Law is also supposed to supersede all other bodies of laws, including the Constitution of the United States. Which violates the freedom which these people want to exercise.
As far as the Native Americans belief systems, many of them were converted to Catholicism in the 1700 – 1800’s, but also hold to their original beliefs as well. They have started to use the court system to maintain as well as re-gain their rights under that same Constitution. Both the Navajo and Hopi have celebrations that honor their ancestors, some which are open to the public and other that are only for members of the tribe.
Thank you for writing this, Nathan. It’s a very important topic. I agree with all of your points, but I wanted to add something: I just got back from the United States and I got a chance to watch some TV while there. I was shocked at the vitriolic that came from Fox news, a network I feel is fueling racism and hatred. I felt sick after listening to it.
There is such anger and finger pointing, and such loose play with the facts. A Bill O’Reilly insider recently blew the whistle and said many of the “facts” are made up. I woke up at 3 am after falling asleep with Fox on and I thought I was having a nightmare!
I can only hope a bill like the one you discussed never passes. Indeed, it’s a shame it ever saw the light of day.
U.S. mainstream TV media is really part of the problem. Fox sets the standard as the worst: they’re basically propaganda at this point. The few times I was in a room with someone watching Fox News, I had to leave. But other outlets have taken to hiring O’Reilly-like figures to get their ratings up, and generally, the reporting has gotten so fear based that there is little substance offered. No doubt, though, that the millions of people who eat this stuff up every day are influenced by it.