It would seem, that some in our nation think that what has come around to England is a perfect fit for us. It wasn't bad enough that Sec. of Treasury Henry Paulson controls our entire economy and now has control over nearly a TRILLION dollars to nationalize what he wants, but now.....
The Treasury Department has announced it will teach "Islamic finance " to U.S. banking regulatory agencies, Congress and other parts of the executive branch tomorrow in Washington, D.C. – but critics say it is opening a door to American funding of Islamic extremism.
According to its announcement, the "Islamic Finance 101" forum is "designed to help inform the policy community about Islamic financial services [Ed, That's Sharia Finance people!], which are an increasingly important part of the global financial industry."
The Treasury Department has collaborated with Harvard University's Islamic Finance Project to coordinate the event.
It is becoming increasingly popular, having reached $800 billion by mid-2007 and growing at more than 15 percent each year. Wall Street now features an Islamic mutual fund and an Islamic index.
You're over-reacting. Under strict Islamic law charging interest is not permitted. Needless to say, this restriction, without limit, would put a crimp on the kind of entrepreneurial activity I am sure you would support among U.S. Muslims. Thus, Muslims have developed ways of providing capital without violating the letter of their laws. See, e.g., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_finance#Banking
And it this is hypocrisy, then every religion is full of hypocrisy. Orthodox Jews have "Sabbath Goys" to turn the lights on for them on the Sabbath. Evangelical Christians somehow equate unbridled capitalism with the message of the Gospels. It's theh way the world works.
But all that's going on here is an effort to understand how financing works for religious Islamic businesses.