US representative Ilhan Omar has come under fire for criticizing a video of passengers singing a piece of gospel music on a plane. The video has also become a hot topic as it sparked a debate on the issue of online worship.
The video was shot by a pastor named Jack Jensz Jr. who then uploaded it on to his Instagram account with the caption, 'We are taking this flight over for Jesus!'. As Jensz and his wife have been active on social media, they appeared to be working near the Ukrainian border for a few weeks and so people have assumed that video must have been shot on a flight to Germany.
Omar, who is a Muslim, has been labelled as a 'Christian hater' for retweeting the video saying that she thinks she should hold a prayer meeting the next time she is on one. Vernon Jones, a Democrat-turned Republican politician, Cicely Davis a candidate in the GOP primary in Minnesota, Royce White a Minnesota candidate, as well as Jose Castillo, a Republican candidate running for Congress in Florida, called out Omar for not respecting Christianity, for hating Christians and for wanting a country where Christians are not allowed to pray in public like Muslims.
However, others pointed out that she was not entirely wrong in retweeting the video because Muslims in the US have been frequently demeaned and demonized especially in airplanes and airports after the 9/11 terror attack by Islamists.
Not many details are known regarding the flight, whether it was a commercial flight or a chartered one, or were there religious groups travelling in it, or the most important detail of whether permission was taken from the aircrew. However, it is obvious from the reaction of the passengers in the video that not all of them seem interested in the impromptu performance.
A divided opinion has emerged among users on social media. One TikTok comment said: 'I'm a Christian and I don't believe in enforcing this on anyone, pray in private in your own time.'
'I'm Christian but there's definitely a time and place,' another user added.
One commenter wrote: "Don't care what ya think of Ilhan Omar's politics, she makes an undeniable point. Don't think any of us need prayer foisted on us while in a flying metal tube."
Another said: "This was in no way an attack. She asks a very legitimate question."
While others comment: 'I don't find anything wrong with this video. On the contrary, I have mega respect for the people playing and singing. "Preach the gospel to all the world".'
The video was posted a week ago but went viral recently as people think that if the songs were Jewish or Muslim a huge controversy would have emerged.
