To: Elroy who wrote (401538 ) 1/3/2011 3:11:47 AM From: Jorj X Mckie 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 794009 perhaps the issue is being framed the wrong way. First, I think that focusing on apostasy is a red herring for the overall issue. Views toward blasphemy should be included as well as adultery, divorce and myriad other issues covered under sharia law. However: Do muslims in general believe that sharia law should be ubiquitous? Does the general muslim population determine sharia interpretation or is it some other head of the religion, like an Imam? If the Imam of Dearborn Michigan says that apostasy should be punished by death, what are the chances of the general muslim population of Dearborn Michigan defying him and saying "No way Jose, Mr Imam! we're in America now where we have freedom of speech and that extreme interpretation of sharia law just doesn't float here!"? If the folks of Dearborn Michigan are unwilling to defy the Imam, I'm sorry to be blunt, but they just don't factor into the equation. And that is the problem with Islam. If there are influential islamic leaders who are willing to go on record about legal interpretation of the koran and there are people who are willing to follow those interpretations along with a general void of objections in the islamic community, then our concerns about islam have merit. And the difference here is that if a religious leader here in the US said that blasphemy against their religion was punishable by death, most people would laugh at them and if religious leader were to try and enforce his "law", he would be prosecuted under legal code. And since sharia law is interpreted and enforced at the whim of whomever has the influence at the moment, there is no way to know what is enforced and ignored nor what the punishment will be.