Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/285258
SNL: The Florida Legislature is currently considering a bill banning the "applica- tion of foreign law," which is essentially an anti-Sharia measure. How would these types of bills, which have passed elsewhere, affect Americans? MS: Because they can't be framed as just against Islam, they would affect Jewish law just as much as Sharia. If you say you can't sign a contract under a religious code of law, then kosher meat markets can't sign contracts with their kosher meat providers, because they all rely upon non-U.S. law. There's really no reason for any concern about Sharia law in the United States. If there's any concern, it would apply equally to Jewish law. Sometimes when Islamophobic legisla- tors say, "Let's get after these Muslims" — of course, they can't say it that way — Jewish lawmakers will stand up and say, "Wait a min- ute, you're going to have the same effect on our community." SNL: What kind of reaction do you get when you speak publicly about Sharia? MS: Sometimes I get quite hostile reac- tions, and I get people saying things that are completely off the wall about Muslims. I'm sometimes kind of flabbergasted. The degree of general hostility to Islam is huge. We have a mosque being built up the street from us, and my wife and I went to a meeting where the final planning was being looked over, and there were a whole bunch of hostile people there, and my wife got up and said to the Muslim community, "We're thrilled to have you in our community." Within a week, she got hate mail saying that the writer — of course, the anonymous writer — is going to try to get my wife fired. It's pretty bad, and I'd be curious to know if it's as bad on your coast as ours. The Sarasota chapter of the ACLU will hold its annual meeting, elect its officers and gather to hear Schneider from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Selby Public Library, 1331 First St., Sarasota. % "Change your thoughts and you change your world." — Norman Vincent Peale Search for text in stories by clicking the icon in the menubar and entering a search term. Search the current edition or all editions. QUICK TIP Search Only The Issue You Are Viewing Search All Issues Your search term here Sarasota News Leader March 28, 2014 Page 57