Letter: Islamophobia is based on paranoia

Many people in Southwest Virginia are concerned about the rise of Islam, as is evident in my reading on Facebook. All need to realize that two things can be true at the same time. An American can feel threatened by certain Muslim leaders who express their desire to spread Islam throughout the nation, and yet, still realize that there will never be a tangible threat of an Islamic takeover of America as long as all present laws are continuously enforced. Americans need to look at the nation of post-colonial India. In 1948, 10% of its population were Muslim. Now in 2026, an estimated 15% of its population is Muslim. Muslims have hardly taken over that nation despite the fact the Muslim Mughal Dynasty ruled nearly the entire Indian sub-continent for 250 years before the arrival of the British colonialists. Muslims in India do not dominate any key aspects of the nation despite the fact the ruling Indian National Congress Party at the time of independence and for nearly 50 years after that was considered pro-Muslim. For the last 79 years India has been a secular nation and it will always remain that way. Islamophobia is based on paranoia. As long as all laws that treat all people equally are enforced, no religious or racial group will take over the nation. No special interest will take over the nation as well. Yet bar associations have managed to do just that simply because the core ideals of the U.S. Constitution are no longer applied. Harsha Sankar, Covington Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! 'Twenty-five Reasons to Be Optimistic' was the title of a recent Washington Post article. It made some good points, but they also showed, inad… Last year, I found myself more and more disenchanted with the changes I was seeing in national policy and felt obligated to seek and support w… We are at what seems like an almost impossible impasse in U.S. history. Members of leadership in Washington, D.C., Virginia government, and at… Parents and teachers should be aware that artificial intelligence in the classroom is a serious detriment to learning. Many students will inev… From time to time, I receive emails from Congressman Ben Cline.