For those of you who've been following me recently on Twitter or through Facebook, you know that for November 11th-12th, I was in Detroit, Michigan. There to sneakily report on Lou Engle's The Call, an ostensibly Jesus-focused rally whose ulterior purpose was the encouragement of Jesus' invasion of my Muslim heart.
In fact, all Muslim hearts:
I’m the one they’re after. I'm “the enemy,” the believer in the “false idol,” “the darkness” Jesus needs to cast out of America, the reason they’re spending all night in Detroit’s Ford Field, sending prayers over Michigan mosques “like sending special forces into Afghanistan.” And there are thousands of them, come because Pastor Lou Engle asked them to.
Founder of TheCall, Engle warns that an Islamic movement is rising in Dearborn, Michigan—“Ground Zero” for America’s spiritual future (and site of a new TLC reality show, All-American Muslim). When I heard the goals for TheCall Detroit—healing America in a time of crisis, accomplishing racial reconciliation, and (here’s where I come in) bringing Jesus to Muslim hearts—I figured a Muslim in the crowd could be a nice twist.
Engle's "The Call" proceeded, and managed to say a lot more about America, Christianity, and Islam, than he probably ever intended. Here is my report: "Jesus, Carpet Bomb My Heart: An Undercover Muslim in Detroit," written for Religion Dispatches. Check it out. And share it widely, if you like it. It was profoundly uncomfortable to be there, at times.
But definitely worth it.
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