[SF-TX]

I suspect many would consider Ruth Nasrullah a moderate Muslim. Would she have been alright had Jesus been profaned? Miss Nasrullah is a frequent blogger on the Houston Chronicles "Believe Out Loud, Houston Belief" website.

March 09, 2010
Jesus at the mall


I hate clothes shopping, so I admit I was already a little irritated yesterday when I stood looking at jeans in a large department store and realized that I was no longer hearing the overhead muzak but rather Christian songs playing rather loudly from a radio at my feet. I was confused at first, and then annoyed. It wasn't a Christian store, and I'm not Christian. Moreover, the fact that Jesus was being praised while I, wearing hijab, shopped gave me an unwelcome feeling and then ticked me off.

I went to the customer service department and told the woman at the desk that I wanted to point out that this music was being played and that it was troubling. She called a manager, who immediately assured me she would have the music stopped.

I left the store, and all afternoon wondered if I had done the right thing, but more importantly if my response had been warranted.

I wrote a post a while back about another situation where I unexpectedly felt like an outsider in a Christian world, but concluded that a private place of business can play whatever music they choose to, and if I don't like it I can go elsewhere. But this wasn't the department store playing the music; it was apparently some employees who had chosen to drown out the store's music with a Christian radio station.

I suspect there was also a latent cultural bias behind my irritation. I don't think this would ever happen in the northeast, the part of the country that I will always think of as home. A Christian radio station playing in a well-known department store - I just can't imagine it happening, or at least not happening without protest. That's the norm I'm familiar with.

So what's your take? Were the employees right to listen to Christian music while they worked? Was I right to be offended? I'm entirely open to discussion because I'm not certain my response was right. I can only say that every time I think about it I just can't help but feel they were wrong to play religious music in a non-religious setting.

Posted by Ruth Nasrullah at March 9, 2010 09:52 AM

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