Larycia Hawkins, a Christian and an associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, a private Christian college in Chicago, was suspended on Tuesday for wearing hijab to show solidarity with Muslims.
Hawkins however, defended her action, saying she began wearing a hijab to counter “vitriolic” rhetoric against Muslims in recent weeks. The college said it made the decision because of statements she made about similarities between Islam and Christianity on Facebook.
Last Friday, Hawkins said on Facebook, that: “I don’t love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity. I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind.
I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God. As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state that initiated one of the first anti-Sharia laws and at church.” Students and faculty members have signed petitions and staged protests against the college’s decision.
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