Just when you thought America’s education system couldn’t produce more alarming results, along comes a survey that shows young voters need a crash course in the Constitution. Or just plain common sense.
A new Rasmussen Reports–Our Republic survey found that 43% of likely voters ages 18 to 24 view Sharia law favorably. That’s the system of Islamic religious principles and law that, in some countries, governs everything from marriage to criminal punishment.
Under strict interpretations of Sharia law enforced in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran, women face severe restrictions on freedoms that Americans take for granted. Depending on the country, women can be forced to cover their hair or bodies, denied educational and employment opportunities, restricted from traveling without male permission and subjected to discriminatory marriage, divorce and inheritance laws.
In some jurisdictions, women accused of adultery or violating morality laws face imprisonment, flogging or even death sentences. Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, girls are barred from secondary schools and universities, and women have been pushed out of much of public life. While interpretations of Sharia vary widely across Muslim communities, its harshest government-enforced versions treat women as second-class citizens, stripping away fundamental rights and freedoms that generations of American women fought to secure.
And this, apparently, is okay with young Americans. But wait. The results of the poll actually get worse.
A whopping 27% of voters under 30 said they would support allowing Sharia to become the legal code for everyone in an American community if a majority of residents approved. What a bunch of nut jobs. SERIOUSLY.
Additionally, 31% of voters in the survey ages 25 to 29 supported requiring public schools to teach children about Sharia’s “benefits,” whatever those may be.
Fortunately, the rest of America hasn’t completely lost its mind. Overall, 83% opposed adopting Sharia as local law. However, that number is WAY TOO LOW.
The survey didn’t measure respondents’ actual knowledge of Sharia, which raises an interesting question. Are these young Americans genuinely embracing an alternative legal system, or do they simply have no idea what they’re supporting?
Either way, a civics lesson is overdue.
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