If you can remember back to your days dealing with fractions in math class, you will no doubt recall the “lowest common denominator”.  The concept is used when performing math functions to ease the pain of coming to a conclusion or an answer.  You use the smallest common number to calculate the answer.  I will use this term to describe the people that are a fraction of society who for some reason don’t act in sufficient numbers to make a majority. 

In Oklahoma the populace voted by a 70% margin to prevent Shariah Law from being used in the State’s Courts.  Muneer Awad, the head of the regional branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, promptly filed a lawsuit against it in Federal Court.  Mr. Awad’s claimed that this law targets Islam and as such violates the Constitutional guarantee to religious freedom.  There is an injunction against the enactment of this law… A hearing is scheduled for later this month.

This is a clear example of pandering to the lowest common denominator.  One person has stopped the enactment of a law that prevents the use of barbaric and archaic practices that condone stoning, beheading, severing hands, blinding, and the wearing of the ever popular burka (that black dress that covers women from head to toe so that nothing can be seen, not even her eyes) and atrocious punishment.  One man can have a woman stoned to death for adultery on his word alone.  This just happened in the Middle East two weeks ago.  Since men are the masters of their property in Islam and women are property under Shariah Law he can beat her and keep her hidden away.  He can have her condemned to death on his word alone.

Here is a state that wants to stop this barbarity and preserve their way of life and belief system, and one person can stop a law that he personally finds offensive to his religious beliefs… Islam is A MINORITY religion in this country, so far.  I fear that current events and our president’s activities in the Arab world will hasten the demise of the American way of life.  We are allowing a minority to control the majority.  The Lowest Common Denominator has taken control.

Arizona passed a law that allowed law enforcement to ask for citizenship credentials if the individual was committing a crime.  The outcry was horrendous from those that opposed the law for various reasons especially because of racial profiling.  I have never understood the concept of racial profiling.  Here’s my dilemma: If the majority of illegal aliens in this country happen to be green, and the border of your state happens to border the country that these green people inhabit, then it would be reasonable to assume that of all the green people you see could be here illegally.  Granted this does not take into account those that came here via the proper immigration procedures.  So how inconvenient is it to ask for some documentation that they did indeed follow the proper laws and came here legally.  The agreement that we are all required to show documented identification is obvious.  Almost every transaction in business requires some form of ID.  I tried a small experiment at my bank.  When I presented the drive-up window teller with the cash and my bank card she asked for some additional ID, something like my driver’s license.  I replied that I am at the drive up window so I can obviously drive, so I didn’t see the relevance of the request.   She kindly replied that this license was for identifications purposes, because it had my picture on it and they are required to verify identity for every transaction.  I complied and thanked her for the explanation.  Now how is this or any other business transaction different from presenting a drivers license when stopped by law enforcement?  Because the some lawyer takes offense at a law they can completely stop enforcement. 

On top of this insult the Federal Government steps in to freeze SB 1070 because it is in conflict with federal immigration laws.  Laws that they refuse to enforce, but don’t want anyone else to enforce either.

Probably the most telling example is our public school system.  Children of all learning abilities are aggregated in to classes by grade.  Learning abilities are not considered unless you can afford private schools where your little darling is evaluated and placed in a class appropriate to their abilities.  How did this happen and why did the Public School roll over to teach to the lowest common denominator?  I guess the reason was a bevy of law suits and probably funding considerations.  The number of specially trained teachers is dropping and the cost to maintain these special classes if rising, I’m sure that the cost/benefit analysis should the needs to cancel these special class in most schools.  The result however is a lowering of circular standards to accommodate the lowest common denominator.

Our society has been under enormous pressure to include everyone in everything from gay marriage to pushing Shariah Law into our communities.  I have nothing against day union; I believe that a legal commitment between to people is their business not my or this country’s.  I do however take offense at the way we dumb-down the system to pander to small groups of whiners and allow them to demand our country bow to their wishes regardless of the wishes of the majority.