Faith, Fear and the Fight Over Sharia Law in Texas

Following an initial hearing in February, members of a House Judiciary subcommittee continued debating today in Washington, D.C., on whether Islam’s Sharia law poses an imminent threat to American communities, especially in Texas.

The renewed discussion comes just days after Governor Greg Abbott canceled a Muslim family event in Grand Prairie, claiming religious discrimination, and Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into several elementary schools that did not display the 10 Commandments in all classrooms, per state law.

On the debate of religious freedom, Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government Chairman and Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) said the recent rise in “violent Islamic terrorism” and Sharia law threatens Americans’ civil liberty and Constitutional rights.

“The law of the Middle East is the antithesis of Western law,” Rep. Roy said at the hearing. “The radicals pushing political Islam do not want to coexist with America's culture and political order. They want to replace it.”

Rep. Roy said this problem is nowhere near as bad as it is in Texas, attributing it to decades of “unsecured border and expansionist legal immigration policies.”

“Texas has seen a sharp increase in immigration from the Muslim world, with many immigrants trying everything they can to bring Sharia with them,” he said.

According to Rep. Roy, Sharia is spreading in states like Texas to “transform” its legal, cultural and societal structures, meaning it will continue to impose on American democracy.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said this worry is unrealistic.

“The government cannot establish, prefer, legislate, coerce, impose or endorse any religious doctrine,” Rep. Raskin said. “And we don't need a special law or a special caucus to do that.”

Rep. Raskin said the threat to democracy does not lie with Sharia law as Rep. Roy claims, but instead with those who put their religion above the Constitution and secular law. He cited the Texas law enforcing the 10 Commandments to be displayed in public schools as an example of this.

“I didn't even know that was necessary, because I thought the 10 Commandments were doing all right after millennia,” Rep. Raskin said. “I didn't know they needed an endorsement from the Republican conference, but they went ahead and did that.”

However, this scrutiny also comes for conservative students in other parts of the state.

One student from Wylie, Texas, said his school censored his club for Republican students by implementing extra paperwork and requirements for them to hold meetings, events and have guest speakers come to campus.

“I think that they think conservative values are a threat because they're true,” said Marco Hunter-Lopez, a student at Wylie East High School.

But, no matter your stance on this debate, Rep. Raskin said everyone must remain united in upholding the Constitution and the First Amendment.

“Our freedoms are not under siege by a religious minority trying to build a community center, but they are undermined by lawmakers who would want to turn Americans against each other on a religious basis,” he said.