Illustration Courtesy of Christy Thomas
Special to United Methodist Insight | June 17 2026
I have lived in Frisco, Texas, north of Dallas, for eleven years now—still a reasonably new resident, but not really by Frisco terms, since in those eleven years the population surged from about 154,000 to 245,000 residents. That’s a lot of newcomers.
And yes, a fair number of them are from parts of Asia, particularly India. And yes, some of them are Muslim. And we also have one of the lowest crime rates in the US, with it dropping, not rising, in the last ten years. In other words, the “Asian invasion” has not been a problem for the city.
And thus, this very, very nice city has now been thrust into the national news because some who live here think that all residents here should have the right to be called fully human.
And some do not.
Some want to think of our Muslim residents as “rats” or “cockroaches,” needing to demonize them or make them less than human. This methodology has been used over the centuries to fuel discontent and hatred for people who may look or seem “different,” or perceived as a threat to our way of life.
When the United States was founded, the Black slaves were not considered fully human. When counting state populations, the “three-fifths” formula was used for enslaved people. So, a family of 15 members, all white, was counted as fifteen people. But a family of 15 members, all Black slaves, was counted as only 9 people. Just not quite human; just enough to keep them subjugated and without full rights.
It’s the more recent history, the history of events leading to the holocaust, that concerns me greatly here. In order to justify the murder of the Jews, the Nazi’s deliberately referred to them as rats or vermin. By verbally stripping them of their humanity, they could far more easily justify the plans for the systematic elimination of all Jews.
If I were a betting person, I’d lay money on the idea that many of those who are vociferously against our Indian/Muslim population are also Holocaust deniers. Wish I knew this for sure.
They are making up the straw man of “Sharia” law being imposed upon Frisco in the very near future and using that made-up idea to strike fear into the hearts of the gullible, the insecure, the frightened and those ignorant of history to justify their hatred. By the way, if you’d really like to understand Sharia, take a look at this very helpful site. It will answer a lot of the questions.
Here’s the real issue: many of those foaming at the mouth about “Sharia law” being imposed are also those subscribing to the far-right, religiously informed views underlying Project 2025, which has the ultimate aim of imposing one certain “Christian” viewpoint as the law of the land. Many of the project's proposals have been successfully implemented since the 2024 election.
These are the folks calling for “head of household” voting, a procedure that means only the male head of any household gets to vote. Ideally, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution will be repealed. This is no longer a fringe movement. J.D. Vance, the VP of the US, is aligned theologically (although not a member) with the church led by Doug Wilson that is pushing for the removal of the right to vote for women.
This is the real danger . . . not that Indian/Muslim people are seeking to live peacefully and thrive as a part of this vital, safe and progressive city . . . but that a minority of white men who do have a great deal of power will impose their rigid views of what it means to be “Christian” on the whole nation.
But it is absolutely necessary to deflect from this real danger—so the Indian/Muslim population in Frisco becomes the scapegoat, the embodiment of evil, effectively hiding the far more pernicious plans of the far right religious world, very much influenced by Nazi purity thinking.
Open your eyes, folks. Ask those who are pushing this, “Did the Holocaust happen?” Their answer will tell you everything you need to know.
Note: I am hardly a defender of the historic Islamic treatment of women. A number of years ago, when I spent much of 2014 and 2015 as a “secret worshipper,” visiting a different place of worship each week and then writing up my experience, I had a miserable experience at the Islamic Mosque in Denton. I pulled no punches when I wrote about it. But I will defend their right to practice their religion freely and to have full rights as citizens and neighbors as long as their religious views are not imposed upon others. Right now, the main religious views being imposed on others in the US are those from the far-right fringe of Christianity—again, that is the real danger.
So, my question for you today: How would you feel about a Muslim moving in next door?
Christy Thomas
Courtesy Photo
Author and columnist, the Rev. Dr. Christy Thomas is a retired clergy member of Horizon Texas (formerly North Texas) Conference of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished from her Substack blog, "Christy Thomas: Quiet Resistance for a Noisy Age."