THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And never let it be said that Texans don't embrace their traditions with a bear hug. Take the Texas shithole of FARMERSVILLE, Texas. For some strange reason the area Muslims want to establish a cemetery in that town. And rising up from a deep pool of Derp, baseless opposition to it has been raucous and determined.

Khalil Abdur-Rashid kept his calm as meeting attendees hollered at him during his speech in a high school auditorium in the tiny northern Texas city of Farmersville. As he tried to explain why his organization, the Islamic Association of Collin County (IACC), wants to develop a 35-acre cemetery in Farmersville one man yelled, “You’re not welcome here!”

Local residents have protested the proposed cemetery since it was approved by the city on May 28 as a concept plan, prompting city officials and the IACC to host a City Council meeting to address locals’ concerns. On Aug. 4 a mostly white, older audience packed into the school auditorium, where a man led a Christian prayer before the meeting started. Farmersville is home to about 3,300 people, more than 80 percent white and nearly entirely Christian, according to city officials.

Abdur-Rashid, a resident scholar at the IACC, said, “Some folks have unfortunately been party to [groups] spreading hate towards Islam and Muslims. It’s based upon ignorance.”

Although the IACC said it doesn’t know of any Muslims living in Farmersville, the group purchased the land because of its scenic location on the shores of Lake Lavon and its affordability compared with real estate in the more densely populated parts of Collin County closer to Dallas. The families who will bury their loved ones there are part of the estimated 22,000-person Muslim community living mostly in the nearby cities of Plano, Richardson and Garland.

At the public meeting, some angry attendees screamed and interrupted Abdur-Rashid as he tried to speak. Near the end, the one who shouted, “You’re not welcome here!” continued. “Every place y’all have been, you’ve caused some kind of controversy in the schools, and the government lets y’all have y’all’s way. Well, it’s not going to happen in Farmersville.”

Much of the opposition is based on incorrect information and rumors. At the meeting and in national media, some residents argued that Islamic burial practices contaminate groundwater because Muslims do not put the dead in coffins — a claim that Abdur-Rashid dismissed as inaccurate, saying that bodies would be buried in caskets or coffins.

One of the most vocal opponents of the cemetery is David Meeks, the 65-year-old pastor of the local Bethlehem Church, which describes itself on its website as “a conservative Southern Baptist Church that believes in the inerrancy of the word of God.” He has told reporters that the plan is an attempt by Muslim groups to build “a mosque or madrassa training center” in the town.

Opposition based on misinformation and ignorance is not unusual. Self identifying themselves as Christians should be painful to all who actually believe in Him. Southern Baptists, shaming Christ since 1845.