Polygamy, child brides coming to U.S.?

WASHINGTON – Polygamy and child brides may make a comeback in the U.S. as a result of recent court rulings and the simultaneous rise of Islam, says the editor of a book of stories about Muslims leaving the faith.

"In light of the recent California court ruling and the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints) legal fiasco in Texas, is the time coming when we in the U.S will be forced to tolerate child brides and multiple wives?" asks Joel Richardson, editor of the provocative new book "Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out," published by WND Books.

The book is a compilation of the stories of 23 men and women who left Islam. The contributors are explicit about the danger that is posed by incrementally yielding traditional western moral and beliefs to Islamic tradition, a process that is called "soft sharia."

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One Islamic tradition that caused several of the books contributors to leave the religion is that girls are often expected to marry adult men. For example, in the Islamic country of Yemen, 50 percent of all married women are under 14 years of age – including girls who have been married for several years. Girls as young as 6 and 7 are married to men in their 30s, 40s and 50s.

"In view of California's gay marriage ruling, how can we legally stop polygamous and child marriages of the sort seen in Muslim countries?" asks Richardson.

The former Muslims featured in the book ask the question, "Are Americans prepared to do what it takes to protect their culture from morally bankrupt beliefs, or will we sit back and let activist judges overturn thousands of years of tradition?"

"In this country, the lifestyles of pro-polygamy groups like the FLDS have been seen as unacceptable, even bizarre; the marriage of young girls to older men is considered a form of child abuse. And yet that is the norm in Islamic countries," the author notes.

"Why We Left Islam" has already hit No. 1 in Amazon's Islamic category. But Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations has denounced the book.

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