MONTEVIDEO — Shahram Hadian of Spokane, Washington, has been called many things in his life just for speaking the truth in love, but the strangest one is “White Supremacist,” he said.

Hadian will be sharing his story and “truth in love” about the differences between the Islamic beliefs and Christianity/western views on law and faith Thursday at the Montevideo Community Center beginning at 7 p.m.

Hadian was converted from the Islamic faith to Christianity in 1999 by an American friend in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a catalyst for Hadian to study the differences between Islam and Christianity. None of his other friends had shared Christianity with him.

As he studied Islam, he became frustrated with the loveless relationships in it, but Christianity had answers to his many questions, he said.

“The Bible accounts come from 40 different witnesses,” Hadian said. “The Qur’an has only one, Muhammad.

“My eyes were open to the truth and I converted to Christianity,” Hadian said. “I lost my family in the process.”

Since his family wasn’t quite as ensconced in Islamic law as western culture typically views Muslim families, Hadian’s life wasn’t threatened, but because of the disgrace his conversion brought on his family, they turned their backs on him for a while.

“For a few years, my dad disowned me,” he said. “He has now passed on.”

Growing up Muslim wasn’t easy for Hadian. He and his family fled the Islamic regimes in Iran and came to the United States to live.

“We fled Iran in 1979, just before the revolution,” he said. Hadian was just 7 years old at the time. “We got out just a few weeks before the fall of the government. Iran wasn’t an Islamic country until after the revolution.”

Over the years, Hadian tried different professions including serving as a teacher, tennis couch, police officer and now as a Christian pastor. These occupations put him in positions that allowed him to be able to relate to a lot of different types of people, including legislators.

“We have a DVD we give legislators with the comparison of Islamic law and punishment compared to our laws and Bill of Rights, and why we cannot allow Islamic law to get a foothold in our government.”

As a Christian pastor, Hadian travels around the United States living up to his church’s chosen Bible passage, Ephesians 4:15, which says, “but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ.” He speaks to various groups including legislators, law enforcement, civic groups, churches and concerned citizens.

Ever careful to say that he supports everyone’s right to free speech, Hadian is often mystified by the fact that protest groups spring up at his speaking engagements trying to stop his message.

“They attack me personally, but they cannot attack the truth,” he said. “They cannot refute the message because we verify all the facts, especially quotes from Islamic sources.”

The message compares Jesus’ life teachings to those of Muhammed’s, then he asks if listeners still think it’s the same God the two prophets shared.

“They accuse me of sharing a hateful message,” Hadian said. “If anything is hateful in my message and should be stopped or banned, it would be the Islamic source materials.”

“I have to hire security now,” he said.

“The message I want to share with Muslims is this,” Hadian said, “Come to us but stop the violent acts in your laws. Assimilate to our laws and commands or go home. No one’s forcing you to come here. Coming to America is a privilege, not a right.”