Anti-Shariah movement gaining momentum

Click on this link to read a New York Times article (7-30-11) about the growing movement in many states to legally ban Shariah or Islamic Law. Proponents view the advocacy of Shariah as an attempt by Muslims to take over the United States (and other western nations). Others argue that Shariah should be distinguished from Islam, the religion that gave the concept its birth. Similar controversies raged for many centuries in the Holy Roman Empire regarding the extent to which Christianity included aspirations to political power. Does public advocacy of Shariah undermine the foundations of western democracy, or should Muslims who seek it be protected in their right to do so by the First Amendment?