Should Christians Try to Legally Stop Mosques Being Built in Their City?

A city council meeting in McKinney, Texas, went viral in early 2026 when residents packed a hearing over a proposed mosque expansion. The meeting lasted four hours, featured over a hundred speakers, and included an Iranian Christian who had escaped the Islamic regime in his home country pleading with the council not to allow the project. The council voted 7-0 to approve it anyway. That moment has become a flashpoint for a question pastor Josh Howerton says Christians can no longer afford to avoid: Should believers organize to legally oppose mosque construction in their own cities?

The Legal Landscape Has Shifted

Howerton begins by clearing away a common misconception. The First Amendment, he argues, was never originally understood to require the government to treat all religions equally. He points out that eleven of the original thirteen colonies had official state churches after the amendment was ratified. Delaware required officeholders to profess faith in the Trinity. Pennsylvania required belief in God and the divine inspiration of Scripture. The Supreme Court itself had ruled multiple times on the basis that the United States was "a Christian nation."