A Christian associate professor at Wheaton College, Larycia Alaine Hawkins, is declaring solidarity with Muslims by donning a hijab for Advent, saying that we all worship the same God and attributing that falsehood to Pope Francis:
I don’t love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American.
I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity.
I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind–a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014.
I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.
But as I tell my students, theoretical solidarity is not solidarity at all. Thus, beginning tonight, my solidarity has become embodied solidarity.
As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws (read: unconstitutional and Islamophobic), and at church.
I invite all women into the narrative that is embodied, hijab-wearing solidarity with our Muslim sisters–for whatever reason. A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas wish this year.
Perhaps you are a Muslim who does not wear the veil normally. Perhaps you are an atheist or agnostic who finds religion silly or inexplicable. Perhaps you are a Catholic or Protestant Christian like me. Perhaps you already cover your head as part of your religious worship, but not a hijab.
If this idiot of a Christian professor knew anything about Christianity and Islam, she’d know there is no way under the sun that we worship the same God. As many Christians know full well, Allah is nothing more than Satan in disguise, period. I realize that Muslims would be offended by this, but the truth is the truth.
Also note this ridiculous statement she put at the end of her Facebook post, calling CAIR one of the ‘preeminent’ Muslim organizations in the US. Seriously???
***I would like to add that I have sought the advice and blessing of one of the preeminent Muslim organizations in the United States, the Council on American Islamic Relations, CAIR, where I have a friend and Board colleague on staff. I asked whether a non-Muslim wearing the hijab was haram (forbidden), patronizing, or otherwise offensive to Muslims. I was assured by my friends at CAIR-Chicago that they welcomed the gesture. So please do not fear joining this embodied narrative of actual as opposed to theoretical unity; human solidarity as opposed to mere nationalistic, sentimentality.
I hope as far as Wheaton College goes that this associate professor isn’t representative of the whole, because if she is, there’s no way I’d ever send my child there. No way.
As a side note, I’m pretty sure the Pope didn’t say what this ditz Hawkins attributed to him. But if someone finds that he said this within the last couple weeks and it is definitive and not some mistranslation, send it to me. I want to know.