All Hank, all the time.

[taxwonk]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Slave's response may have been over the top, but that's Slave. I care more about what real people are actually demanding as a political concession than about the rantings of my imaginary internet friends (however close to my heart they may be).

The situation you outline for orthodox jews is fairly common, though maybe not as explicit -- abortion or divorce or whatever may be perfectly legal for someone, but actually taking advantage of that will lead to being ostracized. That's a social decision, not a legal one. (And personally, I think the earlier you get ostracized from a comunity such as that, the better off you are).

I suspect that this won't work for those who advocate sharia, though, because sharia as I understand it involved punishments that would be considered crimes in non-sharia courts.

That is also going on today. There are more than a few case of "honor killings" of deflowered daughters or disobedient wives in the U.S. It's even more prevalent in countries like Mexico and Brazil. In other words, the problems with honoring Sharia aren't limited to that particular cultural system.