Re: Archbishop of Canterbury wants Sharia law in Britain
I have no such contempt for Muslims or Jews, and I'm extremely opposed to theocratic law in any nation. There should never be separate courts for separate groups, as the government should never be given information about one's religion or belief systems, and a secular nation cannot allow legal judgments to be based on such. I prefer equality for everyone.
Not particularly relevant here, since the UK does recognize religious courts for a set of people, so unless you're arguing for abolishment of jewish courts in the same breath you're just discriminating.
Secondly, you say Government should never be given information about religious affiliation. Religious courts are not the only way to that, the UK is a secular government but still keeps track of my religious affiliation, so that objection is also not founded on the realities here.
Unless you are simultaneously arguing for the abolishment of religion/culture entirely, religious law still applies to all of us who choose to follow it. I rigorously abstain from certain kinds of food, for example. I am in an absolute sense, "not equal", since in my non-regulated, personal legal system I cant eat a certain something other people can. I dont see how any law recognizing my voluntary abstention from Ham increases inequality, instead of merely increasing awareness and recognizing plurality.
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We had such separate laws in the United States not too long ago, when black people had to sit at the back of the bus. Separate but equal just doesn't cut it.
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I think you are confusing two concepts. "seperate laws" does not equal seperation. Jim Crow laws were as secular as they come. In what world does being secular mean you wont be racist? Churches were infact instrumental in getting those laws repealed (Rev. Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were not secularists)