Eliyahu Stern offers an interesting perspective on the anti-Shari`a laws addressed in my earlier post in his op-ed piece “Don’t Fear Islamic Law in America” in the New York Times this past Friday. Stern compares the bans on Muslim law to previous resistance to Jewish law in nineteenth century Europe. The comparison is also useful from an American historical perspective: as immigrants with distinctive religious traditions arrived in this country, they were often met with resistance by majority populations, but over time these cultures were gradually but steadily integrated and now generally co-exist peacefully in American society.  – JKH