I Am a Muslim

There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NRSV)

I want to apologize for the hit and miss delivery of my Musings over the last few weeks. The election results and my mental and spiritual reaction to them has made it hard for me to get my head, heart, and soul around a subject that I would like to share about. I cannot tell you when I might be back to a mostly regular weekly Musing but until I am I will continue to send them out as I feel I have something to say.

The threat of a registry for Muslims and people from the Middle East has got my attention. It smacks of the Jewish ghettos of Warsaw and the yellow Stars of David in Nazi controlled areas during World War Two. It carries the stench of the internment of Japanese peoples on the west coast of the USA during that same era. It echoes the McCarthy Era and the Committee on Un-American Activities, the work of J. Edgar Hoover, and the Hollywood blacklist. All these moments in time are resoundingly condemned for their inhumane treatment of people and the sanctioned racism they produced and the fear they caused innocent people just because they happened to look a certain way, believe a certain way, or exercised their Constitutional freedoms. And just to make this even more clear, with the passage of the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 our nation admitted that such action is unjust and contrary to our values of liberty and justice for all. (This is the letter President Clinton sent to those who were interned.)

Social Media has been buzzing with this topic for days. One action that seems to have gained a lot of attention is how non-Muslims might react if a registry is instituted. That action, to register as a Muslim even if you are not. This may seem a silly thing to do or one that does little but think about for a moment. It has the potential to put millions of names into the system that would have to be vetted or verified. It would make it harder to figure out who exactly are the “real” Muslims. It would show our Islamic neighbors and friends that they are not alone. And what is most important, it would display your willingness to put yourself on the line for another – a way to love your neighbor – a way to witness to the all-inclusive and universal love of God.

The Bible states over and over and over again that our God given responsibility is to care for, protect, and serve the stranger, sojourner, foreigner, orphan, widow, poor, disenfranchised and otherwise powerless persons in our midst. This is what we are called out from among the peoples of this earth to do. This is the character of our God, this is what our God values. Look at Exodus, look at Leviticus, look at Isaiah and Micah, look at the Psalms, look at Jesus, and look at Paul. In every place, you will find that the one, overriding definition of being faithful is caring for the least and powerless. As Christians, we must see that singling out a group of people for no other reason than baseless fear and discomfort with differentness places that group squarely within the realm of those we must serve, protect, and care for. And therefore, registering as a Muslim is one action we can take to faithfully live out our connection with God and Christ.

I know that there may be risks associated with doing this act of civil disobedience. It may take time and money on our parts to get ourselves freed up from the limitations such an act might place upon us. But we must be willing to place ourselves in difficult positions to be faithful to God’s call upon our lives and God’s desire for the powerless to be supported and cared for. We cannot sit this one out. We cannot allow for this to take place and if it does, despite our best efforts, then we must act in ways to subvert and render it ineffective. It is what God would have us do.

I believe the time for action is now. I believe that if we are to say “NO!” to fear and evil we must find the places and do the things that speak loudest against this darkness. And we must listen to John Lewis, President Obama, Hillel the Elder, and many others who have said in one way or another, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” The time for faithful people to be upfront, open and honest about their beliefs is upon us. If you truly are a partner of God and Christ seeking to transform lives and the world you must enter the fray and to feel as Don Quixote does when he sings in Man of La Mancha:

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true 

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

Dear God, help me to love as you love, to risk myself for those who are powerless, and to be faithful. Be with anyone who fears for their freedom and their rights. Amen.