On Sharia, Halakha and the Secular State

A small piece of news which I found of great importance, (via φιλευθερος and roides):

Greece is the only country in the European Union that allows the implementation of the Sharia, the muslim religious law. This is based on the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne governing the status of the muslim minority of Western Thrace or rather a convenient, (for various reasons both for the Greek State and the Muslim Minority), interpretation of the Treaty. Still recently the Court of First Instance, (Πρωτοδικείο), of Rodopi has overturned a decision by an islamic court stating that :

“the prerogatives of the mufti (…) cannot act towards the direction of violating the personal/civil rights of muslim women“

The case regarded the inheritance that was to be assigned to a daughter and was half of what the son would perceive. It is the first of it’s kind and opens up the way to the abolition of the practice since it directly challenges the decision of the mufti. You can read an article on the greek Sharia by Ios but I’d also recommend reading an interesting dialogue at e-roosters.

Συμβόλαιο συμβίωσης μόνο για κάποιους; Οχι ευχαριστώ. / A domestic partnership that discriminates? No thanks.

Here’s a campaign against a proposed bill in Greece that institutes a domestic partnership contract but reserves it for heterosexual couples only. I fully acknowledge it’s truth and wholeheartedly support it - as it says civil rights for all!

Greece convicted on the religious oath

A couple days ago I read on the site of the Greek Helsinki Monitor, a NGO on Human Rights, of a piece of news which I must admit didn’t displease me at all! The European Court of Human Rights, (whose jurisdiction is acknowledged by Greece), convicted the Greek Goverment on it’s insistence on forcing people to take a religious oath inside the courtrooms.