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14/02/08 THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY SHOULD HAVE KEPT QUIET

Overwhelming condemnation of the Archbishop of Canterbury has come from 1Party4All, the online political website where the views of its ‘Keyboard Army’ are expressed through a variety of polls.

A poll, which has been running for this week, has resulted in 92 per cent of members voting agreeing that the Archbishop of Canterbury should not have said that the adoption of Sharia Law is inevitable.

The prologue to the poll question reiterates points made on BBC Question Time that the Archbishop does not represent Muslims, that most Muslims are not asking for Sharia Law, and that Muslims are not relishing more unwelcome and hostile attention being focused on them at the moment. It further points out that Sharia law is actually already here, though only used in civil matters such as matrimonial and contractual disputes. If both parties to a dispute consent, they can have the case arbitrated under Sharia Law.

Members' comments reflected a general mistrust of the concept of Sharia Law being allowed in the UK, even in the limited way it is currently. Comments included:

“Whilst its implementation is intended to be only partial, between 'consenting Muslims', the danger of 'mission creep' is all too great.”

“I lived for some years in another country (Saudi Arabia) where Sharia is the law. I have witnessed the treatment of non-muslim people under this system, and the answer to whether it should be implemented here is NO, not now and not ever”

“When in Rome, do as the Romans."

"If they want to live here, then they have to agree to adopt our way of life.”

“There is no need for any formal adoption of Sharia. If British Muslims wish to adopt its principles in civil matters, then they can simply approach a 'Muslim Arbitrator' and agree to accept his decisions.”

Claire Khaw, founder of the 1Party4All website, said: “The members felt quite strongly about this topic as the poll produced an almost instant response when it was uploaded on Monday.

This is yet another demonstration of ‘direct’ or ‘pure’ democracy at work. With the technology available today, the general populace can be polled to ascertain a consensus view on almost any topic or issue of the day. Why isn’t the Government making more use of this approach to govern the way we want them to govern?”

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