As a person of faith, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the anger and vitriol being shown toward Muslims who live in the Dallas community. You may have heard of the protesters that gathered outside a Muslim conference in Garland.

Partly as a response to this, Northaven United Methodist Church recently hosted an event inviting clergy of all faiths to come together and support Muslims’ right to assemble peacefully and to worship God as they wish. More than 400 people attended, including rabbis, imams and dozens of Christian ministers.

The gathered clergy and religious leaders all read a joint statement that, among other things, said this:
“Our common message today is to stand united as neighbors and citizens, and to bear witness to the values of this nation; values that make no room for bigotry based on race and religion. We recall that many of the founders of this nation came here to avoid religious persecution. They founded a nation where all faiths would be free to worship and serve their God freely.”

These protests paint all Muslims as murderous, evil terrorists. The truth is that most Muslims are good neighbors and peaceful members of our community.

(An excerpt from my March Preston Hollow Advocate column. Read the whole essay here)