For all of our talk about and taking pride in our tolerance, diversity, and freedom, we are quite often intolerant, not welcoming of those different from us, and less enthusiastic about freedom when we don’t like those whose freedom is being exercised.

Islam has never been especially welcome in the United States. After 9/11, many got the message and, at least publicly, made gestures of acceptance toward American Muslims. Most recently, however, the climate against Islam in America has reached a level of hatred and fear as can only be generated by politicians trying to win a political campaign.

In the Bible Belt state of Tennessee, we see several examples of this. In Murfreesboro, about 40 miles southeast of Nashville, an Islamic Center under construction has been the site of unusually strong opposition by its community. The site was set afire and vandalized amid sounds of gunshots in the vicinity. A sign announcing the center was defaced while a large billboard not far away advocated stopping the mosque from being built. Pat Robertson made things worse by insinuating that money from Saudi Arabia would be used to essentially take over the city.

Closer to Nashville, a proposal to build a mosque in Brentwood was shut down after a campaign by locals to smear the builders as having terrorist ties, fueling a letter-writing campaign that ultimately derailed the project.

However, among all of the lies, distortions, defiling, protests, and even violent attacks, there is at least one example of what people of faith should be acting like. A few hundred miles to the west, in Cordova, on the outskirts of Memphis, a Muslim group bought 31 acres of land to build the Memphis Islamic Center, a sprawling center built around a mosque. What’s more, it was right across the street from the Heartsong Church.

When the church’s pastor, Steve Stone, first heard of this, he was nervous, admitting to a “tightness in my stomach” at the news. “But then,” he said, “I realized that was fear and I realized that was ignorance.” He and his congregation decided to do something all too uncommon among American Christians: they heeded the words of Jesus. “They’re our neighbors across the street and we follow Jesus, who teaches us to love our neighbors,” Stone explained.

So the small congregation laid out the welcome mat, in more than one way. They erected a large sign in front of their church, reading “Heartsong Church welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the neighborhood.”

The Muslims planning the center were “overwhelmed with emotion” when they saw the sign, and thus began a warm and close relationship between the two religious groups.

When Ramadan came and the Islamic center was not yet finished, its leaders asked the Heartsong church if they could hold their Ramadan prayers at the church. Instead of being offended, Pastor Stone accepted the proposal as “a high compliment,” and welcomed the Muslims in. People in both congregations may have been a bit nervous that something might go wrong, but nothing did–and the groups moved that much closer.

This is the America we claim exists. This is the tolerance, acceptance, and diversity we celebrate. This is, furthermore, what Christianity is supposed to be all about. So the question becomes, why can’t more American Christians act like these people? We’d all be better for it.

And after all, what better way to commemorate 9/11 than to show what is best about America?