The following comes from an August 2 Christian Post article by Brandon Showalter:

A California lawmaker is asking the state legislature to recognize August as “Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month” but some pastors and national security analysts are criticizing the move, saying it promotes a false narrative.

Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) who introduced House Resolution 59 on Monday, said in a statement posted Friday on the Council on American Islamic Relations’ Facebook page that he was “proud to celebrate the first ever Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month by honoring generations of Muslim Americans for their many social, cultural, and economic contributions to California.”

In a Monday interview with The Christian Post, Pastor Jim Garlow of San Diego’s Skyline Church said, “We are told that most Muslims are peaceful. We are not arguing that point. In fact, those are the only Muslims that I know and would want to know,” but noted that there have been thousands of deadly attacks carried out by Muslims since 9/11.

“With exception of some attacks from a few extremist Hindus I am not aware of consistent violent attacks by other religious groups, such as Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs or Chinese folk religionists … In the call for California to recognize the contributions of Muslims in our state will they reference that 3 of the 19 hijackers came from California, specifically from San Diego, and will they reference the painful Christmas massacre in San Bernardino?”

“I am curious what the legislators plans are for honoring Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists and others. Or did these groups make no contribution to California life?” he asked.