Oklahoma Republican leaders and conservative Christian voices have once again revealed a selective understanding of “religious freedom.”
When Gov. Kevin Stitt issued his 2025 executive order championing religious liberty, and when conservatives protested at the University of Oklahoma over a student’s use of the Bible in an academic paper, those leaders spoke loudly and urgently.
But that urgency disappears in Broken Arrow, where Muslim residents face hostility for trying to build a mosque.
The same politicians and activists who claim to defend religious freedom are largely silent when that freedom belongs to Muslims rather than Christians.
This hypocrisy is personal. I know a fifth-generation Muslim family in Broken Arrow with multiple members who have served in the U.S. military. I know Muslim doctors who have spent decades caring for Oklahomans and saving lives. These families are not outsiders – they are neighbors, patriots, and public servants.
They are 100% American citizens.
Religious freedom is not freedom if it applies only to the majority. And for Christians who invoke their faith in these debates, the command is clear: love your neighbor as yourself.
If we deny that principle to Muslims, we are neither practicing genuine religious freedom nor living up to our Christian or American values.
