The other day when Republicans in the North Carolina House of Representatives slipped anti-abortion provisions into legislation forbidding Sharia law, I asked myself, “In the first place, why are these people so upset about Sharia law?” So I did a little digging, and the reasons became clear:

Under Sharia law, charity is obligatory, as is paying taxes to support the needy. But financial speculation, bribery and corruption are criminal. Ouch!

The privatization of resources – such as oil, water, pasture land and forests – is forbidden.

Right there, you can see why a North Carolina state representative would sound the alarm.

Should the representative be single, he would have to remain a virgin in order to marry a virgin. If the representative was caught engaging in premarital or extramarital sex, he would receive 100 lashes in front of witnesses.

And if that representative was caught stealing – perhaps in the form of misappropriation of funds – his right hand would be amputated. If he stole again, his foot would be cut off. How would that look in a suit?

And if that wasn’t enough, women, such as female lobbyists, would be forbidden to “display their beauty and ornaments.” So that hot blonde from the timber industry, the one with the great legs, she’s got to wrap it all up.

Bill sponsor Rep. Chris Whitmire summed it up nicely, “We are making sure that the most fundamental basis on which we exist is protected.”

Yup.