I see a lot of people today saying, “When will the leftist liberals start telling the truth about Islam?” I am a leftist liberal, and here’s my truth.

On April 24, my congregation at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church hosted a visit by four representatives of the Islamic Center of Albuquerque to talk about what it’s like being Muslim in America. Of the four people who came:

• Three were women, one was a man.
• Three were born in other countries (*none* from the Middle East!), and one was born in the U.S. to U.S. citizens.
• All are now U.S. citizens.
• Three were born into Muslim families, and one converted from Christianity.
• All were very well educated and spoke with clear knowledge of other cultures beyond “ours” and “theirs” (the culture of their birth)
• All insisted that Muhammed and the Q’ran forbid killing anyone, of any faith, AND FURTHER that Islam forbids compelling anyone to convert to Islam or be bound by Islam if they don’t believe. Those who kill “in the name of” Islam or Allah do not understand or obey Islam.
• At least two of the four related that from a Muslim perspective–because they believe in no other god but Allah–every human being on the planet is actually Muslim whether we know it or not. We are *all* children of Allah, and must be treated with due respect.
• All four were delightful, polite, interesting people with interesting life stories.
• All of them expressed sadness and horror (and clearly embarrassment) that others who are doing horrible things (killing, fighting, oppressing) are claiming that Islam is a motive for their behavior.

I’ve encountered many Muslims in my life and work, and what I’ve experienced from them was much more similar to what these four representatives said and showed than what the Orlando murderer did. In history, there are good examples of deeply devoted Islamic governments treating non-Muslims with respect equal to or better than current Christians treat non-Christians. (So obviously, one isn’t required to be intolerant to be Muslim!)

I refuse to allow MY friends and neighbors to be excluded from MY country because someone who commits a horrible crime claims their faith. His faith is nothing like the Islam that I’ve experienced first-hand.

Killers and other violent criminals need to be punished, and prevented where possible. In this country, however, we don’t use the law to punish people who haven’t committed crimes, and we aren’t afraid of people who are different from us.