Owais Khan just wants to go pray.
But an undeniably amplified voice booming across the way calls him a sinner and warns him of his impending eternal damnation, unless he disavows Islam and accepts Jesus Christ as his sole savior and the Son of God, as he walks to the front door of the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC). Khan, and about a thousand other visitors, rushed to make it in time for Jummah, the Friday prayer service that is mandatory for Muslim men. But the screaming voices of Christians camped out on the public pasture right outside EPIC’s property line are a loud reminder of the hateful misconceptions of his faith and his mosque that have been propelled by government leaders.
“This is where we are right now in this country,” Khan said. “There’s just so much hatred. Everyone is trying to divide everyone else into these little groups. Why? Why are we doing this to ourselves?”…