I’d heard for several months about a British documentary about Texans who converted to Islam, including man who lives on Route 66.
I finally saw the documentary today. The man in question — a gun-toting, swaggering, American patriot — doesn’t live on historic U.S. 66, but on Texas Highway 66 in Caddo Mills, northeast of Dallas. So the filmmakers goofed or stretched the truth.
The 24-minute documentary can be viewed here (broadband is recommended). I thought the video was a tad condescending, especially with the Western-themed score. The film seems to exude a vibe of: “My God! There are Muslims in Texas!!!” The filmmakers apparently are ignorant that Texas is a huge, heavily populated state that’s as diverse as any.
I found it fascinating that many of the converted Muslims originally came from conservative Christian backgrounds. Oftentimes, it turns out that regular Christianity wasn’t conservative enough for them.
It was also interesting to hear the women, their faces and heads covered in traditional Muslim garb, talk to each other in that thick Lone Star drawl.