Josh Howerton, BlazeTV host and pastor of Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas, regularly receives emails from Christians in the DFW metroplex asking if they should try to legally stop mosques from being built in their city.
Data shows that Texas ranks third in the country for number of mosques and has seen significant growth in recent decades. Is aiming to stop or slow this growth a genuine Christian mission — or is it politics dressed up as a holy crusade?
On this episode of “Live Free,” Howerton responds to this inquiry by looking at both Scripture and the current law.
Howerton acknowledges the ideological divide among Christians regarding the issue of Islam. Some will point to the religious liberty granted by the First Amendment and Christianity being “the religion of invitation” and say “of course not” to organizing around mosque prevention. Others, he says, will strongly advocate for it on the grounds that Islam is “demon worship” that aims to “[overtake] cities” where their families live.
This division was on full display at a recent city council meeting in McKinney, Texas, where the council heard arguments surrounding the McKinney Islamic Association’s mosque expansion site plan, which the council still unanimously approved. The arguments were so contentious that the story made national news.
There were several Christians who advocated against the mosque’s expansion, some of whom did “not [display] team Jesus character,” says Howerton. He shares this reminder: “We are commanded in the book of Second Timothy to ‘correct opponents with gentleness and respect and to be people who conduct ourselves with a spirit of power and of love and of self-control.”’
But conduct aside, was their advocacy biblical?
Howerton acknowledges the complexity of the issue. It is true, he argues, that Christianity treats all opposing religions as “demon worship” (1 Corinthians 10:20). In the Old Testament, God harshly judged the kings who “allowed the construction of things that facilitated the worship of false gods in the nation,” he points out.
However, under the current American legal system that interprets the First Amendment to mean “radical pluralism,” the government is not allowed to treat one religion differently from another — even though our founders wanted religious tolerance for all but religious preference for Christianity, Howerton notes.
It’s right for Christians to want to stop the spread of the demon religion of Islam, he argues, but it’s a guaranteed lost battle with the modern interpretation of the First Amendment.
So where does that leave Christians who want to be “salt of the earth” in the public square?
The solution, says Howerton, is to fight Islam legally — opposing mosque building projects on zoning grounds or via existing legal restrictions on certain organizations.
In Texas, there are two ways to legally oppose the construction or expansion of a mosque.
The first, Howerton explains, is called a formal property owners protest. It lets nearby landowners who control at least 20% of the land next to the project to formally challenge the zoning change, which then forces the city council to get a larger majority of votes before it can approve it.
The second way, says Howerton, is to prove that a mosque or Islamic center’s construction or expansion is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood or Council on American-Islamic Relations (or their affiliates). Under Texas law, those groups are restricted from owning land, which gives protesters a legal basis to challenge the project.
“A significant number of potential mosque developments are connected in some way to one of the two organizations,” he explains.
“You file a public records request on the potential development’s paperwork, nonprofit status, and any connection to CAIR or the Muslim Brotherhood, and if you establish it … then you file that complaint with the Texas AG’s office, and it’s done.”
Howerton warns that the time for Christians to sit back and not take a stand on the issue of Islam’s growth in the United States is over.
“If you’re a Christian, whether you like it or not, you are going to have to learn to think about things like this in the next 20 years. You are no longer afforded the luxury of not having an answer to this question.”
To hear more, watch the episode above.
“Live Free with Josh Howerton” is on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms.
Join BlazeTV+ and start watching Josh today at blazetv.com/JOSH. Use promo code JOSH40 to get $40 off your subscription.
Read the full article here
