[Hoot Gibson]

Hoot Gibson, from what little I understand about shariah law, it doesn't include women's rights or even human rights. Only from what I've heard, it encourages violence in some ways, such as cutting off the hand of thieves. Do you know if this is true or not?

And to vundy33, just to clarify my earlier posts, this is why I think the change in government is bad. If I'm correct about shariah law, Libya isn't going to have true freedom. They're going to have Islamic shariah law, which to my understanding is very bad.

Interpretations of sharia law varies depending on which sect of Muslims are applying it. Thieves have had limbs amputated and adulterers have been stoned to death but those are extreme cases. Currently, the Saudis and the Taliban have some of the harshest applications of sharia law.

A few months ago, I had a conversation with an Egyptian restaurant manager and a young, attractive American woman at a wine tasting event in Arlington. The woman had just returned from Egypt and was complaining about how crude and common flirtations by Egyptian men were compared to Italians who she had encountered on another trip. The restaurant owner warned her very sternly that Egypt is not a safe country for western women to visit alone and that she should never go out in public there without a group of friends. He said that sexual assaults against unescorted women are common and if they file complaints, judges generally just laugh at them. The penalties for sexual assaults are very harsh under sharia law but the threshold of proof is also extremely high. Multiple witnesses are required, so a careful rapist or one with several dishonest friends can and do often get away with their crimes.