It’s been a few months since talk of Muslim “no-go zones” was all the rage among conservative politicians and pundits, but the people in that same circle are starting to gin up fears of “creeping Sharia” law again.
The uptick in concern about the threat of Sharia law to the United States came even as some prominent conservatives surprisingly refused to lionize Pamela Geller, the notoriously anti-Muslim blogger who organized the Mohammad cartoon-drawing contest where two gunmen opened fire earlier this month in Garland, Texas.
Here are the four most recent examples in which conspiracy theorists have been sounding the alarm about what they saw as Islamic law’s threat to the First Amendment and the U.S. government.
Rush Limbaugh
While defending Geller, conservative shock jock Rush Limbaugh declared last week on his radio show that “Sharia law has already been implemented in this country.” As proof, Limbaugh cited a 2010 case in which a judge denied a New Jersey woman’s request for a restraining order against her Muslim husband, whom she accused of repeatedly raping her. The judge ruled that the husband was acting in accordance with his Islamic beliefs about spousal duties. (An appellate court later overturned that decision.)
Limbaugh also pointed to the example of Memories Pizza, the tiny Christian-owned restaurant in Walkerton, Indiana that became a flashpoint last month during the debate over the Hoosier State’s newly enacted Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The pizza shop temporarily shut down amid threats the owners received after telling a local TV station that they would have to refuse a hypothetical request to cater a same-sex wedding.
“That’s an example of what Sharia would be like,” Limbaugh said. “You must conform, you must like, you must agree, you must comport, you must do what we want or else.”
Jeanine Pirro
Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro, the former New York district attorney, argued Saturday that the backlash against Geller following the Garland shooting was the Obama administration’s first step toward limiting Americans’ First Amendment rights in compliance with Sharia law.
“I have long predicted this administration will cut back our speech if it offends Islam,” Pirro said in a segment flagged by Mediaite. “Make no mistake — as sure as I’m talking to you there will be efforts to limit our First Amendment, our free speech, to comply with Sharia blasphemy laws, which call for death to those who slander the Prophet Muhammad. Imagine, a nation founded on Judeo-Christian ethics changing the rules for a Muslim prophet!”
The Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy, the Washington-based group founded by anti-Muslim activist Frank Gaffney, latched onto the debate over the “Jade Helm 15” U.S. military training exercise to redirect attention to another conspiracy theory entirely: the Muslim Brotherhood’s infiltration of U.S. government.
“Make no mistake, there are groups of people around the world and within this country that want to see societal strife and conflict between our citizens and our government – but it is not our military,” an article published Thursday read. “For example, the Muslim Brotherhood has conspired for decades to attack our civilization from within – and they have succeeded immensely. The Brotherhood’s fingerprints are on everything from our nation’s failed foreign policies to Ferguson, Missouri.”
Ex-Rep. Allen West
Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL), an outspoken critic of Islam who’s also warned against allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to get a grip on the federal government, wrote a blog post Monday revealing what he said was creeping Sharia law in Wal-Mart stores.
West made that assessment based on a sign at checkout that said “No alcohol served in this lane” and the apparently Muslim-sounding name of the cashier who rang up his groceries. It goes without saying that his assumption was way off-base. West later appended an editor’s note to the blog post and change its headline after he spoke to the Wal-Mart in question and was informed that employees under the age of 21 aren’t allowed to sell alcohol.
But even that assurance didn’t deter West: he argued that Wal-Mart was still “selectively caving to Muslim demands,” citing a story from the website Young Conservatives about a Wal-Mart store near Miami University in Oxford, Ohio that had decided to stock halal meats.
TPM illustration by Christine Frapech. Images via AP and Shutterstock.
Either it’s the most thorough conspiracy every devised to deceive the public or an incredible mass hysteria. Somewhere in there are people who might be suffering from brain injuries or a lifetime of developmental issues that at one time in the history of English would have been called “retardation”.
As near as I can tell, the only “Sharia” law, is the law imposed by conservatives who, in their reverence of fear, ignorance and hatred, want to deny rights to anyone who doesn’t look like them, think like them, or behave like them.
What will Limbaugh try next, to boost his flagging ratings, “Dancing with the Stats?”
A corporation, worshipped by right wingers, providing products that meets the needs of a certain demographic in order to retain market share = “caving to Sharia Law”. The jokes write themselves, folks.
Limbaugh maintains that the imposition of Sharia will somehow be used to force businesses to support same-sex marriages?
Evidently he is thinking of a branch of Islam I’m not familiar with, the one where Sharia mandates same-sex marriages?
And Allen West is upset that a Walmart store decided to start stocking some Halal meat products in order to better serve their customer base? I thought these folks supported the free market.
But I guess he’ll next cite the fact that half the products in my local grocery store have been certified kosher is evidence of a vast conspiracy to impose Jewish dietary laws on the entire country.