Texas businessman Daniel Keene who asked for canceling H-1B has now been removed from his gym, church.
Daniel Keene, a business owner of Texas, who posted a video of a Ganesh Chaturthi procession and said he wanted to raise his kids in America and not India, had to pay a huge price for his rant which he deleted but refused to apologize. “We have to cancel the H-1Bs. I want my kids to grow up in America. Not India,” his post, along with the video of the procession, read. It went viral and his family members were subjected to doxxing and threats. He said there was even an extortion attempt from someone claiming to represent millions of Indian-Americans demanding $20,000.His shop Boundaries Coffee received false reviews, his gym canceled his membership and then his church gave him an earful asking him to express repentance for the hateful post; and then removed him.
‘I do not regret. It’s not about skin color’
Keene told Newsweek that he does not regret what he posted against Indians, as he claimed that he did not hate Indians. “It’s not about skin color or anything. It’s about what kind of country do you want to leave your kids, and do you have the right to object to the policies that are seemingly affecting my children? That was kind of my concern,” he said. “I wanted to bring awareness to the policy effect on the ground. I did not want to get death threats,” he said.
‘If you can’t love your neighbor’
Keene said that The Trails Church asked him to leave the congregation after deliberating on the content of his post. He said he was hammered for hours and then asked to apologize for what he said about Indian immigration. Keene said he was ready to put out a post clarifying what he meant or speak with anyone offended but was not ready to take back his words. “That’s the policy position I stand behind,” he said. The church elders told him that he was on “the path of discipline” which means they could remove them from membership if he refused to repent. Keene said it was a serious issue as they thought that he was not a Christian anymore because he did not repent the sin that he claimed he was not clear about.The church authorities told Newsweek that they discussed with Keene on the gospel mandate to “love our neighbors as Christ has loved his church” and asked them to consider whether they could joyfully continue as members of the church. The church said they received a request from the Keenes to remove them as members.
