Ben Carson, Dan Quinn, and Sharia Law

A vigorous debate is underway in the United States over two different but related subjects.

First was the observation raised by US presidential contender, Dr. Ben Carson. He said he does not believe that a Muslim who subscribes to Sharia law should be president. His statement raised a firestorm among politically correct cultural relativists in the West.

The second subject surrounds an ancient Islamic practice, known as BACHA BAZI, that allows older men to engage sexually with prepubescent boys.

The story came to light in a recent New York Times article. The writer speaks of boys being chained to beds and raped by Afghan military officers on US military bases in Afghanistan. American soldiers are told to keep their mouths shut “because it is their culture.” Special Forces Captain Dan Quinn was relieved of his command for intervening on behalf of a child.

The Quran at least implies justification for this abuse:

Sura 56.17-18, “They shall recline on jewelled couches face to face, and there shall wait on them immortal youths with bowls and ewers and a cup of purest wine.”

Sura 52.24, “And there shall wait on them (the Muslim faithful males) young boys of their own, as fair as virgin pearls.”

Sura 76.19, “They shall be attended by boys graced with eternal youth, who will seem like scattered pearls to the beholders.”

Eric Metaxas deals with this issue here.

Certainly Sharia is not silent about human sexuality. Unlawful sexual intercourse is known by the Arabic term “zina.” That includes adultery, fornication, homosexuality and rape.

As for rape, Islam makes a hideous distinction depending on the victim. Forced sex on a non-Muslim woman is not a crime against the woman but against her owner. To rape a Muslim woman is considered zina, i.e. unlawful sexual relations.

Having said that, Sharia law often condemns Muslim women who are victims of rape while their rapist goes free. The victim can be imprisoned or even stoned to death.

The following video describes what happens to women who are raped in Mauritania. It was sent to me by a dear friend who has worked with women who are being enslaved and trafficked in the region. She has spent several years ministering to women in prisons, many of whom are there because of being raped.

So, we have the Carson question—“Should the US make room for sharia law in our electoral process?” and the Quinn question—“Should US military personnel intervene to stop child sex abuse?”

What’s the thread between these two questions? Lack of clarity about the tyranny of sharia law.

On the one hand, cultural relativism challenges Dr. Carson’s statement, and his right to express it. The same cultural relativism which is intolerant of Dr. Carson is tolerant of pederasty. It argues that you may not judge another culture. It demands the US military turn a blind eye to bacha bazi. It influences modern feminists to ignore the imprisonment and stoning of women accused under sharia law of zina after being raped.

The Pew Center for Religion and Public Life has done major research on Muslim attitudes on Sharia. In their recent work, they asked Muslims if sharia law should be applied both to Muslims and non-Muslims. The table captures the responses. Another table indicates attitudes toward stoning as punishment for adultery.

In my book, Emancipating the World, I show how the West is complicit in its own destruction, how cultural relativism is eroding liberty. While radical Islam is on the march through ISIS, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc., a much quieter form of Islam is growing like hidden yeast in the West.

In 2010, British Islamist Anjem Choudary stated, “Our objectives are to invite the societies in which we live to think about Islam as an alternative way of life … and ultimately, as well, to establish the Shariah on state level.”

Many Muslims who have immigrated to the West think Sharia should be the law of the land.

Ingrid Carlqvis, in her article, “Most European Muslims want Sharia” writes,

A majority of Muslims want sharia law to take precedence over the secular laws of their European host countries. This according to a new survey [by] WZB Berlin Social Science Center based on interviews with Muslims in six countries including Sweden. The survey ought to raise eyebrows among Western politicians say researchers.

In the USA, a May 2015 poll commissioned by the Frank Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy found that a majority of Muslims living in the United States (51%) believe sharia law should take precedence over the US Constitution.

Do American elites want to see women imprisoned for being raped? Are they okay with a neighbor practicing bacha bazi?

Western elites who preach cultural relativism are contributing to the destruction of the very freedom they take for granted. Cultural relativism condemns people who argue that not all cultures are the same.

In the video above, the narrator closes by noting that the challenge in Mauritania is “how to reconcile custom with international norms.” The better, more accurate statement, would be “how to reform customs by means of a different worldview.”

Neither Atheism nor Islam (nor Hinduism, Buddhism or Animism) would have produced the US Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. It took the Judeo-Christian worldview to create these documents. Sharia law would never create constitutional liberties, and is in fact often diametrically opposed to the values and virtues of the founding documents of the US.

Until the secular and Christian West recognize these things we are on the road to cultural and national suicide.

If you do not want to live in a country where women can be imprisoned because men raped them, you had better wake up.

If you are concerned about these things, pray for a revival in the Western church and a reformation in Western culture. Begin to educate yourself on the Judeo-Christian roots of a free society. Take a moment to pass this post on to your friends. Finally, if you have friends or acquaintances who are Muslims, love them dramatically.