A shameful double standard on religious freedom

Several Members of Congress are calling for people to be deported from our country due simply to their faith. One has suggested that there’s something sinister about other elected leaders celebrating their religious holidays or placing their hands on their sacred text as they take their oaths of office—he’s even called these leaders “the enemy.” Another has said dogs are preferable to people, if those people practice a particular faith.  

Such statements fly in the face of our nation’s treasured religious liberty traditions, which bar the government from discriminating against particular faiths and require public servants to protect everyone’s ability to peacefully practice their religion. If Baptists, Catholics, or Episcopalians were targeted in such ways, an avalanche of criticism would ensue—and rightly so. Sadly, however, these actions have sometimes been met with silence—or even support—because they target American Muslims.

These bigoted statements are far from the only forms of rising anti-Muslim sentiment. We’ve seen brutal acts of hate-fueled violence such as the horrific murder of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, an American Muslim boy of Palestinian descent; attacks on mosques; and discrimination against and harassment of workers and students simply because they are, or are perceived to be, Muslim or Arab, for example. And because we know Islamophobia tends to spike worldwide during conflicts in the Middle East, it’s especially important for all of us, but particularly our elected leaders, to counter hate right now rather than foment it. This week, bookended by the International Day to Combat Islamophobia and the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, is a particularly good time to take a stand.

A resource for such efforts is the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate, which was released in 2024. The strategy describes scores of actions the federal executive branch took to counter these forms of hate, discrimination, and bias. It’s a playbook for any governmental leader or body as well as any citizen. Another resource is the Mayor’s Guide to Countering Islamophobia, which America Indivisible and the U.S. Conference of Mayors published in 2025. It offers practical steps government officials can take to counter religious discrimination, promote religious accommodation, and bring our country together across our varied faiths and beliefs.

Rebuffing bad policies, as well as the politicians who cynically promote them, isn’t the only way to counter Islamophobia. It’s equally important to highlight how Muslim Americans have been a proud part of our country’s story. They have courageously fought in wars to establish and defend our country, advocated for social justice, and enriched American culture.

For decades, some have pushed back by arguing that acts of violence carried out by individuals claiming a connection to Islam justify heightened scrutiny of Muslims as a group. In early March, these claims surfaced again when a couple of American teenagers tried to bomb an anti-Muslim rally in New York City, saying they were inspired by the Islamic State. But threats like these are already addressed through criminal laws and counterterrorism efforts that target violent conduct, not religious identity. In contrast, laws and policies that would single out particular faiths for adverse treatment are not only unconstitutional, they also make us less safe by distracting us from actual threats and generating animosity against innocent people.

At the opening of the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., in 1957, President Eisenhower said:

“I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends, that under the American Constitution, under American tradition, and in American hearts, this Center, this place of worship, is just as welcome as could be a similar edifice of any other religion…. This concept is indeed a part of America, and without that concept we would be something else than what we are.”

A true commitment to religious liberty requires us to apply the same rules to all faiths. When public officials single out one faith for unequal treatment, they fail that test.