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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"I'M THE TEXAN WHO HELD THE "YOU BELONG" SIGN IN FRONT OF THE MOSQUE IN IRVING"
https://www.facebook.com/justin.normand?hc_ref=NEWSFEEDJustin Normand added 2 new photos.
21 hrs ·
I'M THE TEXAN WHO HELD THE "YOU BELONG" SIGN IN FRONT OF THE MOSQUE IN IRVING
Like most everyone I know, I have been in a malaise and at a loss since Election Day. What to do? With myself? With my time? To make things better, or even just to slog through?
I manage a sign shop, and so I had had the urge for a week or so to do this. Friday, I had a couple of spare hours in the afternoon, so I did. I made a sign, and I drove to the nearest mosque and stood out on the public sidewalk to share the peace with my neighbors. My marginalized, fearful, decent, targeted, Muslim neighbors.
Someone took a picture and posted it, and as of today its been viewed millions of times, and shared across various platforms many hundreds of thousands of times.
This is extraordinary and humbling; mainly because what I did isnt (or shouldnt be) all that extraordinary.
For me, this wasnt about expressing agreement; I remain Presbyterian, not Muslim. It wasnt about demonstrating my outrage to right-wing drivers driving down Esters Road in front of the mosque. I can never, and will never, change any of the haters. Its not about them. Not this time, and not here.
This was about binding up the wounded. About showing compassion and empathy for the hurting and fearful among us. Or, in some Christian traditions, this was about washing my brothers feet.
This was about my religion, not theirs.
And, it was about what I think I must do as an American when our way of life is threatened. Targeting people for their religion not only threatens our way of life, it is the polar opposite of our way of life.
Find a group marginalized by the haters in this current era we find ourselves in. Then, find a way to express your acceptance to that group in a physically present way, as opposed to a digital one.
I can assure you, from their outpouring of smiles, hugs, tears, hospitality, messages extending Gods love, and a bouquet of flowers, it will mean a lot.
My own religious tradition ascribes these words to my deity:
I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.
It is also in this vein that the words on the Statue of Liberty embrace, with eagerness and mercy, all who come to join us:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
These words bespeak the America we all remember, know, love, and are still called upon to be. Especially now.
Lastly, it worked. I felt better for the impact it had on my neighbors. They genuinely needed this encouragement. They need us.
They need all of us. They need you.
We ARE one America.
burrowowl
(17,641 posts)Bucky
(54,027 posts)Tolerance is part of our Texas traditions.
raging moderate
(4,305 posts)Thank you, Brother. May God give us all the kind of strength you have shown in this beautiful gesture.
Dr Hobbitstein
(6,568 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,735 posts)Akacia
(583 posts)Brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful fellow!
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)May his blessings be bountiful.
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Cool story, little fella! Bless your heart.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)babylonsister
(171,070 posts)whopis01
(3,514 posts)Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)n/t.
Gothmog
(145,321 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)narnian60
(3,510 posts)hamsterjill
(15,222 posts)I was proud when I learned it was a TEXAN doing this! Go, Justin!
renate
(13,776 posts)That was beautiful. "This was about my religion, not theirs. And, it was about what I think I must do as an American when our way of life is threatened. Targeting people for their religion not only threatens our way of life, it is the polar opposite of our way of life."
I think this was the first time I felt genuinely hopeful that something good and beautiful could, somehow, grow out of the filth of what has happened. The Trump people have felt emboldened for the first time in a long time and they feel like they have the support of others to spew their feelings... well, maybe those of us who have been too quiet and polite or intimidated to get up in other people's faces will speak loudly and be heard. There are more of us than there are of them; we're just, as a rule, quieter. No more.
kimbutgar
(21,163 posts)struggle4progress
(118,295 posts)DinahMoeHum
(21,794 posts)struggle4progress
(118,295 posts)ailsagirl
(22,897 posts)List left
(595 posts)babylonsister
(171,070 posts)leftynyc
(26,060 posts)He sounds like someone it would be an honor to know.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)babylonsister
(171,070 posts)on his FB page.
DinahMoeHum
(21,794 posts)http://www.dallasnews.com/news/irving/2016/11/29/man-holding-belong-sing-front-irving-mosque-lauded-photos-go-viral-facebook
http://www.macon.com/news/nation-world/national/article117906493.html
bdamomma
(63,875 posts)this is when we are at our best. Thank you
Buzz Clik
(38,437 posts)Texas burns deep red, at about 60/40 red/blue. But, with a state this huge and this populous, 40% is a helluva lot of lefties.