As Miranda noted yesterday, David Barton raised eyebrows when he told The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart that religious law, including Sharia law, is compatible with the Constitution if a locality or state wanted to implement it, as he has a long track record of promoting vehement anti-Muslim views. Julie Ingersoll of Religion Dispatches also pointed out that Barton has consistently criticized “the threat of Islam taking over the country by imposing ‘Sharia Law.’”
But when Stewart asked if Barton was “all right with Sharia law and the whole business” in a Muslim-majority city in America, Barton replied, “Sure, sure.”
However, Barton made the exact opposite point in an interview with anti-Muslim activist Brigitte Gabriel of ACT! for America during his WallBuilders Live radio program.
Discussing a federal judge’s injunction that blocked an Oklahoma law which banned Sharia law, Barton told co-host Rick Green that Sharia law was incompatible with the Constitution.
Barton criticized the judge, saying, “how you can not let [the law] stand when you take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, that’s the only oath you’ve taken to uphold, how you gonna throw Sharia in there and make it equal with the Constitution it’s nuts to me.” He went on to allege that secular people like Joy Behar hate Judaism and Christianity and support Sharia law because they want an oppressive, authoritarian government:
Barton: But I love the fact that she points out that 21 states are considering what Oklahoma did, and 11 are likely to pass it this next session. So it’s going to be really significant to see what the federal judge does with that thing, whether he’s gonna let it stand or not. And how you can not let it stand when you take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, that’s the only oath you’ve taken to uphold, how you gonna throw Sharia in there and make it equal with the Constitution it’s nuts to me. But we’ve seen judges do nutty things so that’s not unusual.
Green: And I’m thinking long term strategy on this thing because this will probably take several years to play out in the courts, but its good that these other states are gonna do it too because we’d like to see this come up through several courts of appeals—
Barton: And get an overwhelming thing. You know, the other thing that I found really interesting listening to Brigitte and talk about her life and stuff that was going on and how strong she is. I find it so strong that you can take all these militant, anti-Christian—Joyce Behar—she’s got the cable news program, she’s on The View, you remember O’Reilly goes on there and makes a comment about Muslims being terrorists and she walks off the program in a rage. She is all the time berating every Christians out there. She’s smashing—
Green: And defending the terrorists.
Barton: Now, this is what’s kind of interesting to me. Secular people do not like religion, but they do like Islam. So maybe Islam is not a religion, maybe it is a way of life. Because why is it that secular people who hate Judaism, who hate Christianity, they love Muslims? It’s because of the tyrannical control over lives. This is what these guys want to do through government and they want the same kind of control, so Sharia that’s a great way to control.
Green: It fits right into their way of thinking things some work.
Barton: It does, their view that we ought to be control. It’s just crazy.
