image above: When Richard (Mac) McKinney first visited a mosque in Muncie, Ind., he was planning to blow it up. But instead of shunning him, the mosque leaders welcomed him, and changed the course of his life. (Smartypants Brooklyn)
WN: There is much on this website about Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism. By clicking on the preceding, you will see some of it, that you may also click on.
The article highlighted is truly wonderful, delightful, and hopeful. May the documentary win an Oscar!
Truly, like Zacchaeus, salvation came to this man and his house! Amen.
Please click on the highlighted below for a 21-minute interview on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Network). Then further below, you may watch the trailer and the film itself.
He planned to blow up a mosque, but he found salvation there instead.
To say that Mac McKinney used to be Islamophobic would be an understatement.
Until about 16 years ago, the U.S. army veteran believed that Muslims were inherently evil, and that he had to do everything in his power to protect his partner and step-daughter from their encroachment on American society.
“It was a hatred that had found a home inside me, and basically became so powerful that I have often described it as being another organ in my body,” McKinney told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “I thought it was keeping me alive, to be honest.”
Powered by that hatred, McKinney concocted a plan to build an improvised explosive device and blow up the mosque in his hometown of Muncie, Ind.
His goal, he says, was to kill at least 200 people.
But within eight months of first stepping foot inside the Islamic Center of Muncie, he not only abandoned his plan, but he joined the mosque, converted to Islam and found what he had always been searching for deep down — community.
That journey is now the subject of Stranger at the Gate, which is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at this year’s upcoming Academy Awards.
Wayne Northey was Director of Man-to-Man/Woman-to-Woman – Restorative Christian Ministries (M2/W2) in British Columbia, Canada from 1998 to 2014, when he retired. He has been active in the criminal justice arena and a keen promoter of Restorative Justice since 1974. He has published widely on peacemaking and justice themes. You will find more about that on this website: a work in progress.
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