Recently, republican congresswoman Michelle Bachmann accused President Obama of aiding the rise of global sharia law, by not speaking out against it and by supporting the curtailment of freedom of speech.   However, what she fails to recognize or to admit is that she and other Christians like her are actively aiding the rise of sharia, right here in the United States, by engaging in the following:

- by opposing the rights of women to purchase birth control with health insurance policies that they earn and pay premiums for;

- by supporting the right of religious pharmacists to refuse to fill valid doctors' prescriptions for contraceptives;

- by opposing women's rights to govern their own reproductive health and choices through draconian abortion policies;

- by supporting politicians that claim that there is such a thing as legitimate rape, thereby placing the blame for rape upon women;

- by opposing equal pay for women and women's rights in general;

- by opposing gay marriage and equal rights for gay people;

- by calling for a return to the days when homosexuality was outlawed and punishable by imprisonment and even death;

- by trying to subvert parental rights by forcing children to pray in schools, regardless of what they have been taught at home.

By engaging in all of the above, the religious right in the United States is ushering in a Christian form of sharia that is nearly indistinguishable from the Muslim form.  After all, Muslim Sharia law also opposes women's rights, women's reproductive choices, homosexuality, gay marriage, birth control, and the right of all people to be free from compulsory prayer.

So the next time you hear a republican complain about sharia law, remind him that his party will be the tool by which it gains a foothold in our country.