Whose Story Do You Carry?

May 2026 column

by Jordan Denari Duffner, S2S Scholar in Residence

‘Lines of Encounter’ offers commentary, reflections, analysis, and updates on recent news and events related to S2S’s mission and work. Members of the S2S network should feel free to share the column with their networks, or lift or adapt portions of it for their own use.

People wait to greet Pope Leo during his fall 2025 visit to Lebanon.

A child stood along the road, ready to welcome a very important guest. The head of the Catholic Church was visiting Lebanon, and residents flocked to greet him. The little boy, holding a sign that said, “Welcome, Pope Leo!” was not a fellow Christian, but a Muslim.

Months later, in a press conference, Pope Leo shared with reporters that he now carries a photo of this Muslim child with him. “He has been killed during this [recent] phase of the war,” he told them.

When I first saw the video clip of the pope’s remarks, my breath caught in my chest. The loss of this child had clearly affected Pope Leo, and it affected me, too.

Pope Leo gives an in-flight press conference in April 2026, sharing about carrying the boy’s photo

It also reminded me of something I’d read a decade ago, from a Muslim theologian in Lebanon, Nayla Tabbara. She has long been involved in interreligious dialogue and she talks about a concept called “spiritual solidarity.” The term was first coined by Middle Eastern Christian leaders in the 1990s, but Nayla has taken it up, too.

Cultivating spiritual solidarity in a multi-religious context, she said, means that “there is a space I give within myself where the other dwells. I do not think anymore as if the other is outside. It’s as if I am carrying the other’s memories, the other’s history, the other’s hopes and fears with me.”

The Pope’s gesture, which embodies Nayla’s words, prompts me to ask, “Who am I carrying with me? How can I cultivate this spiritual solidarity, and translate it into action?”

Below, I share recent news updates, resources, and details about upcoming events that I hope can help our Shoulder to Shoulder network deepen our solidarity amid surging bigotry against Muslims in the United States.

Pope Leo greets a child in Beirut who lost his father during the port explosion in 2020

Beyond the ‘Sharia Scare’ Event

In this mid-term election year, there has been a resurgence in politicians stoking fears about sharia, or Islamic law. Many Americans are asking, What is sharia, anyway? Is it really a threat to the U.S. Constitution? Is it at all similar to Jewish and Christian notion of religious law? Why are politicians talking about it — or seeking to ban it — again? How do these efforts affect Muslims — and potentially all Americans?

If you also have these questions, we hope you’ll join us virtually on Wednesday, May 13th from 12pm to 1:30pm ET for “Beyond the ‘Sharia Scare’: Equipping Faith Leaders to Respond to Political Campaigning Against Muslims.

Our expert panelists will help us understand these dynamics, and how we can talk to our own networks and congregations to disrupt this form of scapegoating. We’ll be joined by Dr. Asifa Quraishi-Landes, a Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School; Dr. Syed Atif Rizwan, Assistant Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, and the Director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies Program, at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; and Dr. Benjamin Sax, the Head of Scholarship and the Jewish Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. I will serve as moderator.

If you have questions ahead of the event, please feel free to email me directly at jordan.denari.duffner@s2scampaign.org.

New Reports about Islamophobia Online and in GOP Politics

The Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) recently released two, troubling publications on the state of Islamophobia in the U.S. today.

The more recent report is Manufacturing the Muslim Threat, which maps “how Republican elected officials built a coordinated anti-Muslim campaign involving 1,100 social media posts, eight bills, and a 62-member congressional caucus” from February 2025 to March 2026.

As the authors say, “this wave of hateful, false, frightening rhetoric puts Muslims in danger.” Because it “paints any and all Muslims as threats,” this kind of speech can inspire violence against them.

In a March data brief, CSOH showed how the US-Israel war on Iran, and a shooting at a bar in Austin, Texas, triggered a sharp surge in anti-Muslim hate on social media, namely X (formerly Twitter). As the researchers write “one of the most deeply disturbing patterns running through the posts we reviewed is the use of dehumanizing language, referring to Muslims as ‘rats,’ ‘pests,’ ‘vermin,’ and ‘parasites.’” There were also “posts that cross the line from hatred to explicit incitement to violence, including direct calls to exterminate Muslims.” As CSOH points out, “Such language has historically preceded and enabled the most extreme forms of violence against targeted communities.”

Threats Against a California Mosque

The violent language online about Muslims is too often directed as specific individuals and communities. In recent weeks, users online fantasized about attacks on the Islamic Society of Orange County in California, with posts like “Bring on the Crusades” and “the AirForce has left over ammo from Iran,” with an image of a bombing.

What Can We Do?

What can people of faith beyond the Muslim community do in the face of this political and online hate? First, religious leaders can capitalize on their social capital and reach out to elected officials who are engaging in anti-Muslim scapegoating. This is perhaps most important in states (like Texas and Florida) from which most of the Islamophobic rhetoric is coming. Second, as CSOH recommends for politicians, faith leaders must not take part in “framing global conflicts in ways that stigmatize entire religious communities.” Third, religious leaders can draw on their tradition’s own religious narratives, ethical frameworks, and theologies — not just to react to the harms being perpetuated, but to proactively build the kind of society in which we want to live.

Consider working with us to craft an op-ed that draws on your religious values to upend Islamophobia. We also have plenty of resources on our website that you can draw from and share with your network.

“The Other Could Be You”

As Pope Leo was traveling to Africa, including the Muslim-majority country of Algeria, Catholics marked the one-year anniversary of the passing of his predecessor, Pope Francis. As a Catholic engaged in collaboration with Muslims, I found myself looking back in appreciation on Pope Francis’ commitment to dialogue with Muslims, one of the hallmarks of his papacy. Even after his death, his words still ring true, especially in times of dehumanization and war: “We must move away from indifference and the fear of accepting the other. That other could be you, or me.”

When we encounter narratives that cast our neighbors as an “other” to be feared, hated, and harmed, or when we learn of proposed policies that will restrict their rights and freedoms, it is our faithful task — an act of spiritual solidarity — to carry their stories with us and take action. Educate your community about these issues, bring them along with you in your outreach and advocacy, and know we at the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign are here to support you along the way.

Read past LoE columns here.