Last week Emory University law professor John Witte, Jr. laid out a bold but reasoned approach on how to accommodate sharia (Islamic law) in the United States and other Western nations -- one that protects religious freedom and human rights.

"The current accommodations made to the religious legal systems of Christians, Jews, First Peoples and others in the West were not born overnight. They came only after centuries of sometimes hard and cruel experience, with gradual adjustments and accommodations on both sides," said Witte, director of Emory's Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR). "Many modern lessons can be drawn from these experiences for sharia advocates."