On this issue, I agree with you. While I think that every person should have the right to go through their religious leaders in arbitration (it is often used for marriage counseling afterall), the decision made by that religion should never have legal standing nor supercede any law of the land. Those same individuals should always still have the avenue of the legal system to go for justice and the decision of that system should be over-riding and binding and religion-free.


>>>FWIW, my understanding of not just the Bet Din, but Jewish law in general, is that local law prevails. So a Beth Din can't make a ruling that's in violation of the prevailing law of the country where the Bet Din operates.
>>
>>That begs the question as to whether Sharia law operates under the same principle or not...
>
>It doesn't matter. Whoever made the loophole to give one religious court's decisions a legal footing, has opened it for every other such court.