Chris Crawford writes:

Some U.S. airports go a step further, providing specific restroom facilities for visitors to wash themselves before praying. This is especially relevant to Muslims, many of whom use ablution stations to wash their hands and feet before saying their prayers. Some non-Muslims also engage in ritual cleaning before praying.

In Texas, these ablution stations have become the target of a bizarre campaign by Governor Greg Abbott. As Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport considers adding these stations to one of their restrooms, the governor is calling the installation “religious discrimination” and has sent multiple letters to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asking that he consider revoking federal funds from the airport.

“Just as the government cannot favor the secular over the sacred,” Abbott said in a press release, “it also cannot favor one religious view over all others.”

Many international airports have these types of facilities — including multiple airports in Texas. Given that they are publicly available and can be utilized by people of all faiths or no faith at all, they clearly do not constitute discrimination against any Americans.

Abbott usually takes an expansive view of religion’s role in public life — including arguing in favor of public religious displays, the Ten Commandments in public schools, and allowing churches to stay open during COVID-19. But in this instance, he claims that accommodations that would accommodate Muslim travelers constitutes “singling out” one religious tradition in a way that constitutes discrimination against all others.

This appears to be part of a broader political strategy to sow fear against our Muslim neighbors. Political leaders in Texas have fanned the flames around the so-called “Islamification of Texas” and warned against a threat of Sharia law replacing civil law in the state….

We should be looking for more ways to accommodate our diverse faiths so that all of us can thrive — not pick and choose who gets accommodations.