"An Amazing Melting Pot of Religions and Faiths":
Miss USA Rima Fakih Talks with Patheos about her Faith and Family

By David Charles

As soon as Miss Michigan, 24-year-old Rima Fakih, was crowned Miss USA, the rumors and allegations started to fly. Professional controversialists immediately wondered whether she was a supporter of the radical Islamist group Hezbollah, or whether her victory was due to affirmative action being played out in a beauty pageant.

Americans aren't used to seeing an Arab, or a Muslim, or a Middle Eastern immigrant being crowned Miss America. Yet Rima Fakih fits all three of those labels. She's also a "proud American" and a graduate of the University of Michigan who plans to attend law school. As newly crowned Miss USA, and a contestant in the Miss Universe competition to be held later this year, Rima will continue to confront and confound racial and religious stereotypes. Patheos' Director of Content, David Charles, spoke with Rima about her faith, her family, and the challenges of being the first Arab-American and Muslim Miss USA.

Congratulations on winning the pageant, and thank you for talking to Patheos.com today. So, is it true, are you really a spy for Hezbollah?

[Laughs.] No, that's definitely false.

Your victory seems to have caught many people off guard -- it seems that no one expected an Arab, a Muslim, a Lebanese American to win the Miss USA pageant in 2010. What's your reaction to that?

I don't know why people are so surprised. I mean, I'm an American and a Lebanese, but I'm an American first, and everyone in America has their own ethnicity and comes from a different background . . . we all come from somewhere. We don't know who we are until we know where we came from.

For many Americans, yours is a very complicated identity, given the associations many Americans have regarding Arabs, Muslims, and Middle Easterners. Do you intend to use your platform as Miss USA to educate Americans about Arabs and Muslims?

Well, I'd like to say it's where we came from, to correct that comment. I believe that religion doesn't define me and it does not define my family. We have an abundance of faiths, and we respect all religions. Yes, we're a Muslim family, but we're also very cultured and we have a mixture of different religions. For example, my brother-in-law is Catholic, and my sister converted and my nephews are baptized. I have an uncle who just graduated and currently he's a priest. He's going to be transferred from Ohio to New York shortly, so I can't wait to see him and my cousins. As you can see, we have a very wide range of family. I even have two cousins here in New York City who are Jewish. As you can see, my family is just an amazing melting pot of wonderful religions and faiths.

"I'm Miss USA, I'm not Miss Religion USA."