If It Looks Muslim...

Published on November 16, 2010

A case of mistaken identity! An Arizona congregation of 800 has been saving for years to build a new house of worship. Now that the architectural structure is under way, they're under attack from local residents because, well, it's got a dome.  And domes are Muslim, right?  And Muslims are bad and dangerous, right?  The non-denominational congregation of the Light of the World church has had to hang a sign on their rising structure, visible from Interstate 10 in Phoenix, that declares their faith as Christian.  While the reporting around this is humorous on the surface -- I picked it up from Gawker -- the larger questions of why and how a Muslim house of worship would be bad are still not broadly addressed.  Instead local news station KPNX highlights the church's pronouncement, "We're not Muslim, we're Christian" and the person interviewed to decry Islamophobia is a young woman in a head scarf.  So much for religious tolerance and freedom.

A case of mistaken identity! An Arizona congregation of 800 has been saving for years to build a new house of worship. Now that the architectural structure is under way, they’re under attack from local residents because, well, it’s got a dome.  And domes are Muslim, right?  And Muslims are bad and dangerous, right?  The non-denominational congregation of the Light of the World church has had to hang a sign on their rising structure, visible from Interstate 10 in Phoenix, that declares their faith as Christian.  While the reporting around this is humorous on the surface — I picked it up from Gawker — the larger questions of why and how a Muslim house of worship would be bad are still not broadly addressed.  Instead local news station KPNX highlights the church’s pronouncement, “We’re not Muslim, we’re Christian” and the person interviewed to decry Islamophobia is a young woman in a head scarf.  So much for religious tolerance and freedom.

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