Texans Oppose Muslim Cemetery for All Sorts of Racist, Ignorant Reasons

This is what Islamophobia actually looks like.

In Farmersville, Texas, just outside of Dallas, there’s a proposal by the Islamic Association of Collin County to build a cemetery in the town. That shouldn’t be a concern. After all, there are Catholic cemeteries all over the place and you’ll never hear a single complaint about them.

But, you know, Muslims are brown. So. Um… logic.

“The concern for us is the radical element of Islam,” David J. Meeks, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, told The Dallas Morning News. He said he thinks the cemetery would be the first step toward a broader Muslim expansion in town.

“How can we stop a mosque or madrassa training center from going in there?” he asked, referring to a type of Islamic school.

First of all, I’m shocked… my money was on the racist pastor celebrating the idea of dead Muslims.

More importantly, though, you can’t stop a mosque or madrassa from being built! It’s a free country and faith-based groups have a right to pay for and build their own places of worship.

At least Mayor Joe Helmberger seems to understand that:

He said the cemetery would be approved as long as the town’s development standards are met, pointing out that the U.S. was founded on religious freedom and that the association is simply trying to secure a burial site.

As a last ditch effort to get him and the other council members to reconsider the proposal, some residents had another idea:

Some are threatening to dump pigs blood and put pigs heads on a post so Muslims won’t buy the land.

Jesus… Tell me again how Christians are persecuted in this country?

But those are the crazy people, right?

There are indeed critics who aren’t espousing racism or anti-Islamic sentiments. For them, it’s all about safety:

Some oppose the project because it would attract Muslims, while others expressed concern that Muslim burial practices — Muslims traditionally don’t bury their dead in caskets — would present health risks for residents.

“When somebody dies, they bury them at that time,” Farmersville resident Troy Gosnell told KTVT-TV. “You don’t know whether they were shot, diseased or anything else. All they do is wrap them in a sheet, throw them in the grave and bury them.”

Burial experts dismiss such concerns and comments as nonsense.

Khalil Abdur-Rashid, a spokesman for the Islamic association, said misinformation and confusion are fueling critics. He said shrouded bodies would be placed in caskets and entombed in vaults underground, and that the plans for the cemetery have more to do with “human dignity” than religion.

There’s simply nothing to be worried about with Muslims building this cemetery. The only arguments against it are ignorant. And yet those arguments keep coming.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to Randy for the link)