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Florida, Schneider jokes that he's the "enter- tainment" at this Saturday's annual meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union's Sarasota chapter. He won't be singing songs or cracking jokes — he'll be answering a simple question about Sharia: "What's it all about?" The Sarasota News Leader wanted to know the answer, so we spoke to him last week. The Sarasota News Leader: So. Sharia. What is it all about? Mark Schneider: Most people who learn about Sharia in the United States from news- papers would think it's like a criminal law, and it isn't. A large portion of Sharia law has to do with matters that have nothing to do with criminal law in the United States or even civil law. Among the topics are how to cleanse yourself, how to properly pray, your obligations to Islam, how to properly fast, how to make pilgrimage, dress codes, ritual observances and dietary laws, how to slaugh- ter Halal meats and how to consume them. That's the significant portion of the law that has nothing to do with what we would think of as civil or criminal law. What's going on in Sharia looks almost exactly like what goes on with Orthodox Judaism in the United States. There's a whole lot of law about one's relationship with divinity in terms of being clean or unclean. Then-state Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, addresses colleagues in 2010. Hays is the Senate sponsor of the Legislature's current 'application of foreign law' bill. Photo by Meredith Geddings, via myfloridahouse.gov Sarasota News Leader March 28, 2014 Page 55