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Texas Senate Imam Prayer3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day (TMLD)
F&J Action Alert for all people of good faith in Texas and beyond...
Let's show Austin that Texans celebrate Religious Freedom for all and that includes Texas Muslims!
<<<--Click to watch Imam Kavakci's Senate Prayer
People of good faith are asked to watch the prayer by clicking on the Video Picture to the left of Lt. Governor David Dewhurst as well as Senator Dan Patrick's speech attempting reconciliation late in the day. We ask you to send an email of gratitude and support to Texas State Senator Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) for sponsoring this milestone event by emailing: ThankSenator@freeandjust.org.
Sample email sent by a Christian Texan to Senator Shapiro: "I am a southern baptist and iraqi war veteran. I totally support your request to have a muslim start the daily session with a prayer. Our country prides itself on freedoms which the US forces and I have defended to the death. I support any freedom that has not been perversed or manipulated to personal benefit. Thank you for standing your ground against the opposition." April 12, 2007- Several leaders of the Texas interfaith community hand-delivered an organizational resolution passed by the Board of Directors of Texas Impact, a statewide religious network of grassroots activists, to thank Senator Shapiro for sponsoring Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci's Islamic prayer opening the Texas Senate as part of the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day on April 4, 2007.
The delegation (pictured to the left) who met with the Senator on behalf of all the Texas Impact Board of Directors , included Father Richard Daley (Texas Catholic Conference), Saadia Ahmed (Executive Director of F&J), Beth Olson (Baptist General Convention of Texas-Christian Life Commission), Bee Moorehead (Executive Director of Texas Impact), Ellen Sable (Chair of the National Council of Jewish Women), Senator Florence Shapiro, Mohamed Elibiary (President & CEO of F&J), and Reverend Mel Carraway (President of Texas Impact).
Statement of Support by the Texas Impact Board of Directors to Sen. Florence Shapiro
The Board of Directors of Texas Impact, a multi-faith statewide advocacy organization, would like to express our appreciation and support to you for your efforts in promoting interfaith dialogue and cooperation as evidenced by your invitation to Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci to open the April 4, 2007 session of the Texas State Senate with prayer as part of the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day.
We commend you for this invitation and your subsequent remarks on the Senate floor following Iman Kavakci's prayer. We believe it is imperative in the atmosphere of today's world that the principles of religious liberty guaranteed in the First Amendment have a prominent forum. Our state is a microcosm of the religious diversity found in our United States, and it is incumbent upon all of our legislative bodies to uphold the freedom of all our citizens to express their faith.
We celebrate the diversity of faiths and the people of our state and encourage all people of good will to engage in interfaith conversation and cooperation. We thank you and applaud you, Senator Shapiro, for your efforts. ****************** Texas Impact Board of Directors: Reverend Mel Caraway - President, Rebekah Rosenberg - Vice-President, Liz Yeats - Secretary, Lin Team - Treasurer Dr. Philippa Strelitz, Gertrude Miller, Fred Lewis, Rose Lancaster, Reverend Dr. Whitney Bodman, Seth Wispelwey, Dr. Aurora Cepeda, Reverend Dr. J. Andy Fowler, Suzii Paynter, Edie Sunday, Reverend David Hargrave, Mohamed Elibiary, Reverend Tom Heger, Reverend Chuck Hubbard, Ellen Sable, Reverend Jack Soper, Walter Shipman, Reverend Tim Tutt, Mina Johnson, Reverend Bill Johnson, Rita Carlson, Reverend Glynden Bode, Reverend Randy Smith, Reverend Ernie O'Donnell, Reverend Judy O'Donnell, Reverend Herb Palmer, Nancy Benthien, Dr. Ginny Burnett, Reverend Lydia Hernandez, Wanda Holcombe, Mina Loomis, Reverend James C. McClain, Martha Rogers, Patrice Schexnayder, Brother Richard Daly The Chair of the Texas Education Committee, Senator Florence Shapiro along with Texas's Lt. Governor Dewhurst welcomed Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci and the Texas Muslim community on this monumental occasion. To read the Official Press Release from Senator Shapiro, click here.
Background: On Wednesday April 4, 2007, Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque opened the Texas Senate with an Islamic prayer broadcast live as part of the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day organized by the Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J). Most of our fellow Texans decided to celebrate this milestone event, but some choose to attempt even if unsuccessfully to stop the evolution of history. On March 18, 2003 during the 1st Texas Muslims Legislative Day we had the 1st Imam opening the Texas House of Representatives but as luck would have it was on the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom, so some felt the event unpatriotic because it benefited Muslims and attempted unsuccessfully to keep us from passing the 1st Muslim focused legislation in Texas that year (Texas Halal Food Law protecting Muslim consumers).
There have been hundreds of news outlets (Print, Radio & TV) who have reported on this week's milestone accomplishment for Texas Muslims but also about the choice of one State Senator (Dan Patrick of Houston) to "showboat" his dissent as another Senator put it. In the end the Islamic Prayer was not cancelled and all the interfaith and public policy speakers scheduled to participate in the Program not only participated but welcomed Muslims to the State Capitol. In the end Senator Dan Patrick was the only Senator who decided to sit out the Islamic Prayer opening up the Texas State Senate, and due to the good will efforts of his Legislative Colleagues and the interfaith community Sen. Patrick decided to execute a rarely used Parliamentary procedure to voice his desire for reconciliation very late in the day.
Sample Articles from around Texas about the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day: Austin-American Statesman, Dallas Morning News, San Antonio Express News, Houston Chronicle Sample Blog in Reaction to Imam Kavakci's Prayer: Texas Monthly, Newspaper Editorial Official F&J Position on all the developments
The Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J) started in November 2002 with the vision of civically empowering the Texas Muslim community by connecting them into a strong statewide network and building strong interfaith relationships with our Christian and Jewish neighbors. Though the majority of the American Muslim community is born and raised here, we have gone the extra mile in helping Muslim immigrants to the Lone Star State integrate and become proud Americans in every sense of the word. F&J's successes helping Muslim immigrants integrate have been recognized by our government and we've performed workshops aiding other Western Muslim communities to learn from Texas's example. We would like to thank our interfaith partners at the Texas Conference of Churches, Texas Impact and the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission among others for helping us pave the way for better interfaith relations between all of Abraham's children in Texas. While some on both sides of the current Global War on Terror choose to see a "Clash of Civilizations" paradigm, F&J will continue to recognize the uniqueness of the individual whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim and treat everyone as we believe all should be treated.
We recognize that though voluntary Muslim immigration to Texas might have begun with seven men led by Hajji Ali in 1856 as part of the US Army's Camel Corp to explore the American Southwest, most Texans did not become aware of American Muslims until the events of 9/11. The American Muslim community is a productive community with multiple surveys showing a higher then the national average college education and household income, and we hope that efforts by Texas Muslims advocating for Public Education, Public Health Care and the Environment benefiting all Texans are recognized. Texas Muslims are on the front lines keeping our communities safe from those who wish our country harm, whether its Homeland Security or Military Service one finds Texas Muslims serving proudly. F&J's Chairman Ian Benouis JD is himself a multiple generation West Point Graduate and decorated combat vet as are many other Texas Muslims.
The attacks on this milestone event largely came from two camps, Senator Dan Patrick and some Republican Party Officials in the Houston Area. Concerning Senator Patrick we would like to thank him for coming around very late in the day and entering into the Senate record his "realization" that our troops in Iraq are fighting for "all Americans" and that American Muslims are part of that collective. F&J will continue to reach out to every legislator in Texas including Senator Patrick so that an accurate understanding of the Texas Muslim community is represented. The second camp voicing opposition to the Islamic prayer at the State Senate was a minority segment of the Texas Republican Party and we are thankful for all the support received from Republican Party officials and activists across Texas who stood up and welcomed the right of Texas Muslims to practice their Religious Freedoms.
The arguments leveled against why this milestone event shouldn't have happened are itemized below with our responses to them:
1. Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill raised the point that Muslims should not be allowed to offer an Islamic Prayer during Holy Week for Christians in the Texas Senate. Response: The week was Holy to not only Christians, but also Jews celebrating Passover and some Muslims who celebrated Prophet Muhammad's birthday on Thursday.
2. Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci is the resident Scholar at the Dallas Central Mosque and some have tried to hold him accountable for the 'drive-by investigative inconclusions' made in a 2005 Freedom House Report on extremist "Wahhabi literature" found at that Mosque. Response: Imams don't run most Mosques, and as in the example at the Dallas Central Mosque lay leadership is elected through a democratic election process every couple of years. The Dallas Morning News piece from 2005 passed around by Senator Patrick is misinformed and meant to sensationalize a story for ratings. The Dallas Central Mosque's elected leadership did respond completely on this issue before the US Senate Judiciary Committee and their testimony was fully satisfactory to those US Senators who wished to research both sides of the story.
Click here if you'd like to read the testimony before the US Senate.
3. When all the previous accusations didn't work, then a "fabricated lie" was circulated on anti-Islamic websites that the Prayer read by Dr. Kavakci (Fatiha-Opening Chapter of the Quran) was exclusionary of Christians and Jews when asking for God's Blessings. Response: Normally we wouldn't choose to respond to such idiocy, but this accusation is what has angered the largest segment of folks. It is a sad day for America that Texas Muslims are being judged according to the most shallow understanding of Islamic Theology found today on numerous websites wishing to frame Islam and Muslims only through the prism of Terrorism. The opening chapter of the Quran (Fatiha) is recited by practicing Muslims at least 17 times a day and is comparable to the Lord's Prayer in Christianity for many. Anyone who has engaged Muslims in interfaith dialogues over the decades would have seen these verses discussed. One accusation on Islamophobic websites has been that the final verse refers to Muslims as favored and Jews & Christians as the lost/misguided ones. The verse begins by asking for guidance to "the road of those whom you (God or Allah in Arabic) have favored, with whom you (God) are not angry, nor who are lost!"
This false accusation reminds us that while everyone is entitled to their own opinions they are not necessarily entitled to their own facts. Yes some intolerant literalist interpreters wishing to elevate Muslims and damn all Christians and all Jews would agree with the Islamophobic website's interpretations, but what these Christians and Jews forget is that these intolerant literalist interpreters would not be participating in any interfaith functions anyhow. Plus the overwhelming majority of Muslims including Dr. Kavakci and us here at F&J read these verses as is without trying to put biased interpretations where no factual evidence exists to substantiate it, because God's favor and anger can befall people of all faiths whether Muslims, Christians or Jews. Islam is full of verses and narrations' reminding the "true believers" that no one is better in the eyes of God except by the merits of their good deeds. The last major accusation revolved around that small minority of fundamentalist Evangelical Christians who continue to espouse that "Allah" is not "God", much to the surprise of 20 Million Christians praying to "Allah" in the Arab Middle East. In preparation for Dr. Kavakci's prayer F&J made sure that he used the terms "interchangeably" so that all Muslims, Christians and Jews would feel equally part of the prayer and from the Legislators we spoke with all seemed to appreciate the sentiment. Most American Christian Denominations have official statements recognizing that while each faith (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) might choose to highlight different attributes of the one divine deity, all three are referring to the one true God of Abraham whether the word used to describe God is in the English, Spanish, German, Arabic, Malaysian, or any other language.
F&J would like to thank the many Christian and Jewish Texans who wrote and called in to support this event and here's a sample of an email delivered supporting Senator Shapiro's sponsorship of Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci's prayer opening the Texas State Senate: "I am a southern baptist and iraqi war veteran. I totally support your request to have a muslim start the daily session with a prayer. Our country prides itself on freedoms which the US forces and I have defended to the death. I support any freedom that has not been perversed or manipulated to personal benefit. Thank you for standing your ground against the opposition."
With the help of the Texas Muslim community and our coalition partner CAIR-Texas, the Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J) would like to thank everyone who participated in the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day and showed their support for the Islamic Prayer opening up the Texas Senate. We wish our Jewish neighbors a Happy Passover and our Christian neighbors a Happy Easter.
Wednesday April 4, 2007, Texas State Capitol at 11:00 AM Sharp - 4:00 PM!
3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day Program Agenda
11 AM - 11:30 AM: Prayer by Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci Opening the State Senate Session Location: Senate Gallery in the Texas State Capitol - Room 3E.5
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM: Group Picture on the South Side Steps of the Capitol Building
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM: Session I: 80th Legislature Update, Intro. to Texas Impact and "Meet your Legislator Workshop"
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Lunch Break (Cafeteria - Room E1.002) and Visit Your Representative and Senator
2:00 PM - 2:15 PM: Jamaa Zuhr Prayer in the Legislative Conference Center - Room E2.002
2:15 PM - 3:15 PM: Session II: Homeland Security & Immigration Legislation (Rebecca Bernhardt - ACLU), Texas Human Rights Commission (Thomas M. Anderson, JD, SPHR - Chair, Robert Gomez - Exec. Dir. & Anwar Khalifa - Commissioner), Texas Interfaith Power and Light (Bee Moorhead & Ian Benouis JD)
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM: Session III: Texas Islamic Council (T.I.C.) and Interfaith Relations, where are we headed? Mohamed Elibiary with responses by Rev. Dr. George Bithos (Executive Director of the Texas Conference of Churches) and Suzii Paynter (Executive Director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission)
4:30 PM: Buses Depart Austin The Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J) as the first state-level civic organization serving the government and interfaith relations needs of Texas Muslims and coordinator of the Texas Islamic Council with its member congregations spanning from Tyler to El Paso and Dallas-Fort Worth down to Austin and Houston organized on April 4, 2007 the 3rd Texas Muslims Legislative Day. To learn more on the event, watch a video of the Imam's prayer opening the Texas Senate and read F&J's response to all the media uproar, scroll up on this webpage.
Two minority but vocal segments of the Texas Christian community have been consistently lobbying to make sure that no more invocational prayers by Texas Muslims are ever performed in the State Capitol. Those two segments are self-identified as "Christian Zionists", wishing to roll-back Islam's integration in America, and "fundamentalist evangelicals" using the opportunity to continue waging a cultural and theological civil war inside Western Christianity.
We need the support of Jewish & Christian Texans to match the numbers of intolerant folks:
We have compiled below just a few dozen of the emailed attacks sent to the sponsoring Senator of this milestone event in Texas History. Many Texas Muslims have sent in emails of support to Senator Shapiro, but unfortunately the "haters" are a much larger and better organized community so we are asking Christian and Jewish Texans to stand up and speak out against the intolerance in our society that would marginalize a religious minority attempting to exercise the most basic freedoms the US Constitution affords to all US Citizens.
From some of the Hate E-Mail messages below, the viewpoint that Islam and Muslims are not part of America becomes very evident. They also view:
1. the "Global War on Terror" as a "War against Islam" 2. Muslims are not "Americans" and should be treated as if they are "Iranians", "Saudis" or whatever "enemy" America is at War with so that any of them inside the "Christian West" would leave. 3. Muslims don't believe in "God", but instead believe in "Allah" - a moon God from ancient Arabia. A Houston pastor with the US Pastoral Council, a fundamentalist evangelical group out of Houston, appeared on the FOX TV Show "Hannity & Colmes" on Monday April 9, 2007 and stated as one the reasons why Muslims should not be allowed to perform invocational prayers before the Texas Legislature that "85% of Americans believe in God" and that our "government should represent the People". The assertion is that Muslims do not then believe in God and that our government should not represent its Muslim constituents.
***All accusations are answered by F&J above.
How you can help?
We are asking all Texans of good will (Muslim, Christian, Jews, etc.) to email Senator Shapiro's office and thank her and her colleagues for supporting the Religious Freedom of all Texans by supporting the Religious Freedom of Texas Muslims. To email your message of support, send your message to: ThankSenator@freeandjust.org.
Here's a small sampling of the "hate emails" sent to Senator Shapiro's office, text cut and pasted straight out of emails without any editing:
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