Christians confront rising tensions with Muslim neighbors after 9/11 anniversary

Faith Facts

• Al-Qaida, an Islamic extremist group, carried out the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
• President George W. Bush publicly described Islam as a religion of peace following the attacks.
• Pew Research Center reports that public attitudes toward Muslims have grown more negative in the 25 years since 9/11 than in the immediate aftermath.

Dearborn, Michigan remains at the center of America’s debate over Muslims and their place in U.S. society. Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, the Detroit suburb with its large Arab American population continues to draw national attention. The timing of renewed protests and media coverage struck many observers as especially pointed.

A recent anti-Islam rally promoted as a Christian Crusader March brought hundreds of demonstrators and counterdemonstrators into the streets of this majority Arab American city of 110,000. Some participants carried assault rifles while police in riot gear maintained order. The scenes raised fresh questions about how Christians should respond to their Muslim neighbors amid rising tensions.

Wayne Beason, minister at Parkside Church of Christ in nearby Dearborn Heights, addressed the issue from his pulpit the following Sunday. He told his congregation that out-of-state Christians had contacted him after seeing disturbing images on the news. Beason urged believers to reject the fear and hatred being directed at Muslim and Arab immigrants by those claiming to follow the same Jesus.

Dearborn Heights has a population exceeding 60,000, with roughly two in five residents of Middle Eastern or North African descent. Most are Arab. Beason, a 39-year-old Michigan native, expressed concern that much of the current rhetoric is both hurtful and deceptive.

“There’s a lot of talk about Muslim Americans and Arab immigrants right now, and a lot of it is pretty hurtful and deceptive,” Beason said.

“I have a hunch that many of us are wondering what we can do, how we can respond to the fear and hatred that’s being directed at our neighbors by people claiming to follow the same Jesus we follow.”

The debate echoes conversations that followed the 9/11 attacks themselves. On that day in 2001, American Muslim groups rushed to condemn the violence while warning against backlash against innocent followers of Islam. Imam Suhaib Webb of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City described a distraught Muslim woman who feared for her life.

“She’s completely terrified,” Webb said at the time. “She’s a single woman. She’s like, ‘What if someone tries to kill me?’”

“She’s worried that society is going to blame her for this killing.”

President George W. Bush refused to cast blame on all Muslims, instead calling Islam a religion of peace. Yet despite that early effort at unity, public attitudes toward Muslims have grown more negative over the past quarter century according to multiple measures. The anniversary coverage has reignited old questions about faith, security, and national identity that remain unresolved.

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