A Last Plea For Civility

 “The greatest threat to our Western society right now is the rise in Islam in the state of Texas.” - Nate Schatzline - Top adviser to Governor Greg Abbott on election-security

The above comment came from an excellent article in Texas Monthly on Schatzline and his work for the Governor. I'm not going to spend this whole diatribe on him except to remind you that this has become a rallying cry for some reason in the campaign.

The article quotes Schatzline, who apparently is a pastor and 2020 election denier as saying this to a right-wing organization in Lampasas...

“And by the way, I want you to notice something, because the governor agrees on this: I didn’t say ‘radical Islam.’ I said ‘Islam,’ because all Islam is radical.”

Let me reiterate that our election security advisor is an election denier(!?) and that Muslim Texans are a whopping 2% of our population and in no position to take over anything. No religious doctrine, Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, can supersede US law, but that bogus fear-mongering continues. That is in the Constitution, but the lying goes on. The TM article says...

"Bo French, the nominee for a position on the Texas Railroad Commission, has argued that we must “round up” every Muslim. Mayes Middleton, the Republican nominee for attorney general, has claimed that sharia adherents don’t believe Christians “deserve the right to exist.”

Let me tell you about one Texas Muslim that I know. I don't think he'll mind since he said all this in a statement on Facebook.

Anwar Khalifa is a homebuilder in Tyler, Texas, and a successful one. His family emigrated to Texas from Egypt in the 60's, when Gamal Abdel Nasser was in charge, and he went to high school in Dallas. He moved to East Texas and began a company called, of course, Pyramid Homes. His company is very successful; Anwar drives around in a Chevy pickup with real longhorns on the grill and is about as cliched a Texan as you can get.

He has a good sense of humor, even about his origins. He told me a story about a prospective homebuyer who was in his office. The man asked what neighborhoods he built in adding, "I don't want to be stuck somewhere out in East Bumfuck, Egypt."

Anwar answered, "Hey, careful. I'm from East Bumfuck, Egypt."

Though not an actual Imam, he is a leader in the Muslim community in East Texas, and has formed a strong and loving bond with the local Jewish Leader, Rabbi Neal Katz, who is also a good friend.

He and the Rabbi lead their congregations in joint celebrations of each other's holidays. When the Ramadan fast ends, the members of Congregation Beth El bring food to the local mosque, and when Passover ends, the congregants of the East Texas Islamic Center bring homemade Baklava and other goodies to the temple.

Anwar and Neal have taken congregants to Israel...

When the word ecumenism is mentioned, this is what it means.

And Anwar is a Republican. A staunch one.

But no more. Not that he is any less conservative. He is certainly that. But the direction his party has taken, just as red meat for the ignorant, has left him confused. Oh, he has real problems with the candidacy of Ken Paxton and the moral issues that he feels cannot be laid only at the feet of the other party.

However, it goes deeper than that.

"But what hurts me even more is something far more personal.

At the 2026 Texas Republican Convention, Muslim Republican delegates who came to participate in their own political party faced efforts to expel them. They were not expelled, but the party chairman publicly encouraged them to leave and join the Democrats. Other Muslim attendees were reportedly told to leave the country.

Imagine that. Americans who share Republican political values, who came to participate in the democratic process, being told they don't belong.

What kind of Republican Party have we become?"

That is from his post on Facebook. At that Convention, by the way, the Muslim delegates were told to convert, or leave. You know, like some sort of Spanish Inquisition.

Sort of a Texas diaspora. In that post, he also mentioned his friendship with Rabbi Katz and how, like all thinking and compassionate people, it bridges any differences...

"A Jewish Independent and a Muslim Republican, two people who disagree about religion and politics, yet have built a friendship grounded in mutual respect, trust, and love for our community."

Now, taking this stand I find particularly brave since Anwar is a successful businessman in conservative East Texas behind the Pine Curtain. I have good friends of both parties from my time as a newsman in Tyler, and I know some will be upset with Anwar's post.

But knowing him, I also know it is a plea.

"I am not asking the Republican Party to abandon its conservative principles. I am asking it to remember them.

Because the party I once proudly called my own is becoming a party I no longer recognize."

Look, you can campaign and vote against James Talerico or Gina Hinojosa or for them, and that is expected in every election. And I will in my next piece, talk about both Talerico and Paxton's actual stands on the issues, not just mudslinging.

But this trend in my home state is ugly and beneath us all.

Please go vote, but for legitimate reasons, not this blatant bigotry.