A few years ago, as my students were settling down at the beginning of class, one of them mentioned seeing me in a picture of a group of people on the news, and asked what it was about.
I explained it had been a pro-Gay rights event, something that would not surprise my students as I was out of the closet and on the news often because of my advocating for GLBT students in the school district and the drama around that.
With that short explanation, class began.
The next morning I was called to the office. By contract I should have been notified in advance of a disciplinary meeting so I could get union representation If I chose to, but without such a notification, I assumed it was something routine and, perhaps, not that important.
When I entered the office, I saw one of the vice-principals sitting at a table with a woman I assumed was a parent who wanted to talk about her child.
When I sat down I was asked if I had mentioned to my class that I was at a Gay event over the weekend, and I explained that, having been asked by a student about a picture she had seen on the news, I had given a quick explanation before beginning the day’s lesson.
When asked, I explained that I did not see it as inappropriate as many teachers have mentioned what they had done with family and friends on any given weekend, and it was, after all, a student asked question.
The vice-principal acknowledged that while I did not violate any law, provision of the contract,or district or school policy, the parent did have a concern.
For the next few minutes the parent, having brought a Bible out of her large purse, read what are assumed to be anti-Gay verses from the Bible with the VP chiming in with his own verses every now and again.
When they were finished, I was asked for my response.
I replied that, although I was annoyed that I was so blind sided with carefully selected verses from the Bible when I thought I was there to discuss the parent’s child, I would have to point out to the very Biblically based parent that although I may not agree with him, I had to at least listen to the vice-principle because he was a man, but as she was a woman, and since 1 Timothy 2:12 says, “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet”, I would have to ignore and dismiss anything she had said as it would be a violation of the very scripture she was quoting if I were to listen to her.
The VP ended the meeting immediately, and later put a very misleading summation of the meeting into my personnel file, a summation that neglected to mention I was responding to a student’s question, while misrepresenting that I had, for no reason connected to my class, brought up Gay material that was not related to the curriculum.
This was at a point in my experience at that school before the administration was aware that I always had a small audio recorder in my pocket at their many questionable meetings.
I had violated no law, contract provision, or district or school policies, but negative information was put in my file that could be used later if any action was taken to dismiss me based solely on religion, and not one to which I had ever prescribed.
I was never a Southern Baptist.
There are those, who, for political reasons and the need to create an enemy so as to scare people into supporting them either in politics or for financial gifts to their ministries, promote the false idea that Muslims are attempting to usurp the laws of the land by forcing everyone to follow Sharia law, the basic Islamic legal system derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith, and want to replace our judicial system with Sharia Courts that do not rely on lawyers, but only plaintiffs and defendants with trials conducted solely by the judge who bases his rulings on Sharia Law.
Sharia courts have no jury system, no pre-trial discovery process, and no cross-examination of witnesses. Judges’ verdicts do not set binding precedents, and, unlike civil law, Sharia is left to the interpretation in each case and has no formally codified universal statutes.
It is basically like being called before a group of bishops, pastors, or whatever canonical-like body many Christian religions have when a congregant needs to be judged with excommunication as the possible punishment, or the defrocking of a cleric is up for discussion.
The basic belief when it comes to those who misrepresent Sharia is that religion does not trump law, school or district policies, a legal contract, or our courts.
Well, maybe only when it comes to Sharia.
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“Higuera Hardwoods LLC was founded in 2001 to offer you a wide choice of only the finest (FSC) approved Moso bamboo products for your environment. We specialize in bamboo products only to bring you a level of expertise not often seen.”
According to its own website, Higuera is a wood supply company, it is not a church, or an affiliate of one.
But Higuera, like a lot of other companies, has signed onto a process known as Christian Conciliation which relies on a form of arbitration based on Christianity, not law, and which has been worked into contracts so that the person who feels their contract rights have been violated has no recourse to address a wrong in court if the dispute has been arbitrated in a Christian way.
As the New York Tims reported,
“[S]ome lawyers and plaintiffs said that for some groups, religious arbitration may have less to do with honoring a set of beliefs than with controlling legal outcomes.”
Higuera Hardwoods’ policies include this,
“Arbitration shall be by a single arbitrator experienced in the matters at issue and selected by principal and agent in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker Ministries. The arbitration shall be held in Seattle, Washington (the company’s headquarters) and shall be conducted in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation existing at the date thereof of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker Ministries, to the extent not inconsistent with this Agreement. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding and may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.”
It applies to all parties even if they are not Christian.
If there is something wrong with their product, or if it has been shoddily installed, if you had not read the contract carefully, you may find yourself sitting in a room with the company and someone reciting religious platitudes, but getting no satisfaction.
Same goes if you are so thrilled you landed a job, you sign on without taking the time to carefully read what you are about to sign.
Another company, Carolina Cabin Rentals, a vacation rental company in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, has this in their rental agreement, and remember, you are about to go on vacation, who has the time and interest to read the fine print.
“Any claim or dispute arising from or related to this agreement shall be settled by first meeting face to face to discuss the matter, secondly by mediation and, if necessary, by legally binding arbitration in accordance with the Rules of Procedure for Christian Conciliation of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker Ministries.Judgment upon an arbitration decision may be entered in any court otherwise having jurisdiction. The parties understand that these methods shall be the sole remedy for any controversy or claim arising out of this agreement and expressly waive their right to file a lawsuit in any civil court against one another for such disputes, except to enforce an arbitration decision.”
Telios Law, PLLC , a member of the Religious Law Network which helps churches and ministries find attorneys knowledgeable about religious law issues, and certain related legal services, pushes this Christian Conciliation idea.
“Sometimes people think that Christian mediation is only for church disputes or disputes about spiritual issues. But Christian mediation can be used to resolve any form of dispute. Like the more commonly-used mediation mentioned above, it can be used during a lawsuit—or even before. Christian mediation is different because it focuses on Scriptural principles and on spiritual healing. It doesn’t just try to resolve the legal or financial issues, but also addresses the spiritual and emotional issues. When the Christian mediation process works well, the healing of relationships can be greater than is likely in a secular setting.”
Bad floor, warped wood, a leaky cabin, screwed out of financial compensation from your employer? You might not get financial satisfaction, but you just might end up with a new friend.
Peacemaker® Ministries, referred to in these clauses is a Christian conflict resolution service that handles religious disputes.
Like what real Sharia Law does within the Islamic community.
But Peacemaker® Ministries, through its Institute for Christian Conciliation (ICC) division, wants to bring its, let’s be honest here, ministry into secular proceedings.
“Our Christian mediation and Christian arbitration services have been used effectively to resolve a wide variety of civil disputes, from marriage and family conflicts to complex legal matters, such as employment disputes, breach of contract, estate disputes, partnership dissolution, wrongful termination, oil and gas disputes, international disputes, and organizational conflicts.”
If you sign any type of contract with this practice in it, a court will uphold that to which you agreed as it is a contract entered willingly by both parties.
While the Christian right is all atwitter about Sharia Law, they actively work all throughout this country to make sure that their religious freedom is protected, while simultaneously stripping others of theirs.
So, is the problem really Sharia Law, an internal religious practice applied to those of the Muslim faith, creeping into our laws and supplanting our courts, or is it Christian fundamentalism that has expressly stated it wants to do that, and is doing it?