An urgent prayer request came from my Fulani Christian friend in Nigeria July 11. His relatives were in danger: “Soldiers arrived suddenly and started chasing everyone. They arrested four men and stampeded the cows, which promptly got into the nearby…
Greg Abbott washes his hands of hospitality
There is a particular kind of Texas story that keeps repeating itself, and it repeated again this month. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport planned to install a modest set of foot-washing stations — sinks, essentially, in existing restrooms — so Muslim…
Muslims have been part of the American story since before independence
Many early Americans were astute enough, unlike so many Americans today, to distinguish between good and bad Muslims. From the 16th to the 18th Centuries the Barbary pirates (also known as the “naval mujahadeen”) raided the southern coasts of Europe. They stole…
In Dearborn, the latest evidence of the new Crusades
Police in tactical gear pushed their way through the crowd of Christian Crusaders in Dearborn, Mich., Tuesday as January 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang and pastor Lorenzo Sewell led the flag-waving, shofar-blowing worship warriors into battle against their Muslim neighbors. Dressed…
Sean Feucht thinks Jesus loves his invasion of a Muslim procession
Christian nationalist troubadour Sean Feucht is bragging about interrupting a peaceful procession of Muslims in Chicago Aug. 9. “We did a Jesus March right through the Muslim March in Chicago!!! This is crazy!!!” Feucht declared on social media Sunday. “This…
Muslims were part of America’s story long before the republic began
In the 1520s and 1530s, a man named Esteban de Dorantes, known as Estevanico, walked across the deserts of what is now Texas, New Mexico and Arizona – decades before the English founded Jamestown in 1607 and a full century…
Baptists need to speak up again for religious liberty
As people spent the Fourth of July holiday with friends, family and local community, the United States continues to experience a slide away from universal religious liberty and a shift toward authoritarian government targeting religious beliefs and actions. The Baptist public theology…
What I wish Christians knew about Sharia Law
Recently in Houston, Mohamed Hussein walked into the Texas Republican Convention as a delegate. He walked out in tears. Hussein, a conservative-leaning Muslim American whose family came from Egypt in 1992, attended not as a protester but as a participant…
CAIR links San Diego murders to Republican-fueled Islamophobia
It’s hardly a surprise that the shooters who killed three people at a California mosque May 18 were motivated by hate, said the Council on American-Islamic Relations. CAIR made the statement after authorities revealed the two San Diego teens met…
Greg Abbott is on a campaign against religious liberty
One year ago, I wrote about how Texas Gov. Greg Abbott amplified a racist, Islamophobic tweet to further a conspiracy theory about a North Texas Muslim community. The conspiracy was that the planned community, EPIC City, was going to enact…
And to think I saw it in a Buc-ee’s parking lot
I would have been less surprised seeing an elephant walking past — carrying a Raja, with rubies, perched high on a throne. I certainly would have felt less nervous for the elephant’s and the Raja’s well-being. What I saw took…
Texas interfaith coalition speaks up for Muslims’ religious freedom
As Republican elected leaders in Texas seek to limit the activities of Muslim organizations, an interfaith coalition has issued a plea to defend Muslim neighbors and their religious freedom. The open letter was created by George A. Mason and Nancy…