Bishop backs Sharia law in UKThursday, 3rd July 2008. 12:52pmBy: Adrian Hall.London: Religious communities should be allowed to uphold their own legal systems when they are not in conflict with human rights, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds has said.The Rt Rev John Packer told a debate on the rule of law in the House of Lords that it is important religious communities, including Islam, are "not denied the right to uphold ethical and moral standards where they do not infringe basic human rights".His comments come in the light of the Archbishop of Canterbury's controversial remarks about Sharia law.
Bishop Packer referred to the Church retaining the right not to marry people who have been divorced and to Jewish Beth Din courts and Somali customary law which enable "disputes to be settledin the security of a particular cultural group without recourse to the secular courts" and provide a "safe haven for independent adjudications".
He said he regretted the recent decision to force Roman Catholic adoption agencies to place children with gay couples "overriding the conscientious rights of the Roman Catholics concerned".
"There is much within the practices and legal systems of different communities and cultures within our land which we ought to welcome, as well as that which is against human rights which we need to condemn," he said.
"Our right defence of human rights must not blind us to the benefits of cultural law."
He added: "In our right concern for the rights particularly of women under the law, and in our criticisms of certain provisions of Sharia, we also need to be careful not to condemn all that comes from that particular tradition.
"In Leeds, as elsewhere, we have welcomed in particular the provision of Sharia-compliant loans and mortgages as an example of multicultural inclusion that has enabled Muslim businessmen to play their part in the financial economy of our country.
"The arguments for and discussion about those loans and mortgages have provided a challenge to our own secular culture, where interest and debt are simply taken for granted."
He added: "Protection under the law is crucial to our society and must remain so.
"At the same time, we need to defend the rights of cultural and religious groups to affirm ethical and moral standards, not least the rights of Christian communities to do that. Indeed, we can learn from them to enhance the common good of the whole of our culture."
We have spent centuries removing religion from the law, because the bible is such a bad example of justice and fairness. Including the teachings of Christ, remember Jesus introduces us to hell, and threatens us with being slain if we do not worship him. There is no hell in the old testiment, you were never punished after death. But this god head wants me to be judged by a faith, any faith, because then his faith can play its part.
jtdyman(October 30, 2008 at 8:29 pm)
but their rights are opposite of western laws.
Grimmest117(October 4, 2008 at 7:34 pm)
Will Britain fight, or will Britain fall?
Grimmest117(October 4, 2008 at 7:32 pm)
More of Sharia is comming. You are losing your country, Britain better rise up right now while you still have the numbers. In ten years it will be late to save Britain.
11solid11(September 16, 2008 at 9:32 pm)
Our country, our way of life is under threat. If people want sharia law then go to a muslim country. This amounts to a cultural invasion which the poor leadership of this once pround nation has allowed to happen because they lack the courage to do what is nessesary to secure the furture of our British nation. I fear that labour's inaction may have already lead us down a path where none of us want to be. Did ANYONE see the report of muslim lawyers holdings meetings of how to breed us out??
Raj60074(September 10, 2008 at 7:27 pm)
This is great.If brits are gonna keep letting muslims get their way then the times are coming when all the brit women will be walking down the streets with hijab and men with beards..Thats what happens when you elect extreme left winger who love to appease.
IceneBoudicca(August 26, 2008 at 5:05 pm)
This pratt is a wonderful example of the type of spineless, dress wearing 'holy' men that abound in the christian church and who haven't got the courage of their own convictions. Instead of genuflecting to the almighty, they are now latching on to the islam bandwagon in a desparate attempt to hedge their bets.
BlueDesertScorpion(July 29, 2008 at 9:36 pm)
how can the bishops do this?,are they on drugs? honsetly I don't understand what is wrong with them
rockchickhoney(July 18, 2008 at 5:13 pm)
5***** Well, there isn't really a polite response to this news as far as I'm concerned so, I will just say thank you for posting it rather than contaminating the comments section with what might offend some other viewers.:-(
victimlesscriminal(July 6, 2008 at 11:41 am)
felixpetrar: There already are Christian terrorists and have been since Paul of Tarsus.Not sure about whether size is proportionate to hysteria - look at Manchester United's fans! Although, equally, small flies do sound rather mad compared with bigger bumble bees.However, we are in utter agreement that they will in time reduce in size and, hopefully, fizzle out completely. Just wish I could be around when the last twitch emanated from the corpse.
![Nelly - Stepped On My J's [OFFICIAL VIDEO] ft. JD Videos](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6gtzUU3yskU/default.jpg)
