Democratic Values, Islam and the Judeo-Christian Tradition Fallacy

From the latest criticism of Elena Kagan for her support of an Islamic finance program at Harvard to the escalating mosque construction controversy across the country, there are now warnings emanating from some circles that Muslim leaders are seeking gateways through which to implement an "Islamification" of American politics and society. Such efforts, the assertion goes, are meant to surreptitiously paint Islamic sharia law in a good light through media and academia to the point where Americans willfully allow it to be imposed on the larger body politic.

Those issuing these dystopian theocratic predictions emphasize sharia's incompatibility with core American democratic values -- individual liberty, consent to be governed, equality, and private property -- that are generally accredited to the Judeo-Christian tradition (a shorthand ascription that basks in the undue status of conventional wisdom).

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