See How Well It Works?

There is an old joke in which someone buys a very expensive object which he is told will keep away dragons. When someone else points out that there are no dragons, he smugly replies, "See how well it works?"

Rex Duncan is an Oklahoma state legislator, and takes his job very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he is determined to protect his state against even imaginary enemies. Make that especially imaginary enemies.

You see, back in February he introduced a constitutional amendment which would prohibit state and local courts from considering Islamic religious law (also called Sharia law) when making decisions: "The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia Law." The amendment was passed overwhelmingly last month and will be on the ballot this fall for voter approval.

Good heavens, sounds like it's really needed out there - except that American judges don't use Sharia law in their deliberations. They never have. And they never will. In our secular legal system, judges don't use any religious law to decide cases.

But that hasn't stopped Duncan. Going on MSNBC a few days ago to defend the ballot measure, he found himself unable to point to even a single instance where a judge has used Sharia law to decide a case. "It has not [happened]," he admitted before recovering and larding on the fear: "It's a growing threat, frankly, and this again is a preemptive strike. They understand that this is a war for the survival of America. It's a cultural war, it's a social war. It's a war for the survival of our country."

Less than one percent of Oklahoma residents are Muslim. And even if the hardest of the hardcore think applying Muslim religious law wholesale is a great idea, that leaves a whole lot of Muslims, not to mention a whole lot of non-Muslims, who realize it's a terrible idea. But that doesn't matter to Duncan and his fellow fearmongers, who see a golden opportunity to whip up political support while demonizing a religious minority.

(And is it just me, or do all these people who use fear and loathing against Muslims fall silent when extremists demand that legislatures pass and judges enforce laws according to Christian religious doctrine? Just sayin'.)

So Duncan, following in the footsteps of so many other political snake-oil salesmen, is selling the people of Oklahoma an object guaranteed to keep away Sharia law. After all, see how well it works?