You're the second person to recommend this movie. So I guess I have to watch it now...
When it comes to EPIC and projects we pursue as American Muslims. Perhaps it's important for people in religious leadership spaces to accumulate experience working in mainstream, for-profit spaces, or mainstream, civic institutions, to have a better understanding of the context and circumstances in America generally. Because I feel like a lot of that is missing; if you haven't worked in mainstream America, how well do you know America at all?
But when it comes to the specific decision to locate EPIC in Texas... well, I'm not unsympathetic to your point--namely, wouldn't a blue state be more hospitable?--except for two considerations. First, blue states are often either really expensive or otherwise really prohibitive (even more red tape, less economically dynamic). And second, there's plenty of instances in which Muslim projects in blue states have generated serious blowback, haven't they?
I agree that Blue States are often expensive, hard to build homes in, bureaucratic, and have less dynamic workforce than state like Texas and Florida. However, in the name of diversity and inclusion, Pritzker, Newsom, or Shapiro wouldn't coordinate with the State AG and 14 state agencies to take down a Muslim housing development. Announcing a development in 2025 in Texas, a militarized border state, with Abbott as governor and Trump as president, was 100% gonna trigger a massive response. In California it could trigger local Nimbys and such. I personally don't think such a community is a good idea for any number of reasons, and, under no circumstances, would I want to live in such a place. Setting that aside- Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, or Missouri ain't the place. This community is STEM and business heavy and short on the types of people needed to negotiate basic public interactions and events much less something on an epic scale like this.
You captured something so true about so many Muslim communities, which for some reason we never lean into. It's hard to be lonely in a lot of these communities. It's not that people aren't alienated, but I'm saying this as someone who's definitely an outlier in many communities, and even attending a jumuah in another city, where I don't know anyone, I feel welcome and embraced. Why don't we translate that into something good for us and those around us? Instead of a community for Muslims, in other words, why not neighborhoods informed by our values and strengths but that create opportunities for all kinds of people to be closer, more connected, more seen and more looked after?
I don't have much to counter with there--I don't know enough about EPIC to comment on the plan or format or likelihood of success (I really haven't heard much except anecdotally). But I do think it would be smart to support denser, more walkable communities, that produce deep connections across people, which could be inviting to and positive for our congregations, meet a lot of our needs and ambitions, but wouldn't be restricted to one community
Yep. Think about it. What do Mormons, Ahmadiyya, Nation of Islam, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Old Order Amish/Mennonites have in common besides their unusual theologies and non-acceptance by their more mainstream co-religionists?
They all generally have stable religious communities.
You're the second person to recommend this movie. So I guess I have to watch it now...
When it comes to EPIC and projects we pursue as American Muslims. Perhaps it's important for people in religious leadership spaces to accumulate experience working in mainstream, for-profit spaces, or mainstream, civic institutions, to have a better understanding of the context and circumstances in America generally. Because I feel like a lot of that is missing; if you haven't worked in mainstream America, how well do you know America at all?
But when it comes to the specific decision to locate EPIC in Texas... well, I'm not unsympathetic to your point--namely, wouldn't a blue state be more hospitable?--except for two considerations. First, blue states are often either really expensive or otherwise really prohibitive (even more red tape, less economically dynamic). And second, there's plenty of instances in which Muslim projects in blue states have generated serious blowback, haven't they?
I agree that Blue States are often expensive, hard to build homes in, bureaucratic, and have less dynamic workforce than state like Texas and Florida. However, in the name of diversity and inclusion, Pritzker, Newsom, or Shapiro wouldn't coordinate with the State AG and 14 state agencies to take down a Muslim housing development. Announcing a development in 2025 in Texas, a militarized border state, with Abbott as governor and Trump as president, was 100% gonna trigger a massive response. In California it could trigger local Nimbys and such. I personally don't think such a community is a good idea for any number of reasons, and, under no circumstances, would I want to live in such a place. Setting that aside- Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, or Missouri ain't the place. This community is STEM and business heavy and short on the types of people needed to negotiate basic public interactions and events much less something on an epic scale like this.
You captured something so true about so many Muslim communities, which for some reason we never lean into. It's hard to be lonely in a lot of these communities. It's not that people aren't alienated, but I'm saying this as someone who's definitely an outlier in many communities, and even attending a jumuah in another city, where I don't know anyone, I feel welcome and embraced. Why don't we translate that into something good for us and those around us? Instead of a community for Muslims, in other words, why not neighborhoods informed by our values and strengths but that create opportunities for all kinds of people to be closer, more connected, more seen and more looked after?
I don't have much to counter with there--I don't know enough about EPIC to comment on the plan or format or likelihood of success (I really haven't heard much except anecdotally). But I do think it would be smart to support denser, more walkable communities, that produce deep connections across people, which could be inviting to and positive for our congregations, meet a lot of our needs and ambitions, but wouldn't be restricted to one community
Yep. Think about it. What do Mormons, Ahmadiyya, Nation of Islam, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Old Order Amish/Mennonites have in common besides their unusual theologies and non-acceptance by their more mainstream co-religionists?
They all generally have stable religious communities.