EDITORIAL: DEFAMING ISLAM
The Washington Post, 10/6/02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45764-2002Oct4.html
ONE OF THE high-water marks after Sept. 11 last year was President Bush's
leadership in urging Americans not to condemn Islam because of the actions
of extremists in the name of their faith. He set aside his war planning to
visit the mosque at the Islamic Center of Washington, where he reminded the
nation that "Islam is peace" and admonished Americans not to take out their
anger on innocent American Arabs and Muslims...
The same, however, cannot be said of some key leaders of the religious
right in America who are counted among President Bush's closest political
allies. And on their noxious mix of religious bigotry and anti-Muslim
demagoguery, Mr. Bush's silence is deafening.
We have in mind several religious conservative leaders who count Mr. Bush
as one of their own. There is the Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son
and successor and a participant in the president's inauguration, who has
declared Islam a "very evil and wicked religion." And there is Christian
Coalition founder and television evangelist Pat Robertson, who said that
"to think that [Islam] is a peaceful religion is fraudulent." Mr.
Robertson, in full attack mode himself, called the prophet Muhammad "an
absolute wild-eyed fanatic . . . a robber and brigand . . . a killer." And,
in an appearance on the CBS program "60 Minutes" to be broadcast tonight,
the Rev. Jerry Falwell completes the demonization of a religion by smearing
the prophet of Islam as "a terrorist."
These are not just the words of a fringe movement. The speakers are leaders
among the religious right in America, a movement close to a president who
speaks their language. Their embrace is mutual. It therefore falls to the
president to break his silence on their gross distortion and to put some
distance between their rhetoric and his own professions of tolerance. To
avert his gaze from their actions is to permit the Falwells, Robertsons and
Grahams to legitimize their own perverse teachings through their
association with the president of the United States. If their words are not
his, then the president must say so.
SEE ALSO:
HORNET'S NEST PROVOKING TROUBLE
Charleston Gazette, 10/5/02
http://www.wvgazette.com/news/Editorials/2002100426/
REMEMBER when TV evangelist Jerry Falwell said the 9/11 terror attack
happened because God was annoyed by America's civil liberties, feminism,
gay rights, etc., so the Deity removed His divine protection from the
country? Well, Falwell apparently didn't learn a lesson from that bungle -
for which he later apologized - because he has done it again. Interviewed
for Sunday's "60 Minutes" show, the evangelist commented: "I think Muhammad
was a terrorist."
Here we go again. Although it's true that the founder of Islam led military
combat, we aren't sure that made him a terrorist. Gens. Dwight Eisenhower,
Omar Bradley and many other military commanders also waged battles, but
nobody calls them terrorists.
Falwell joins a long list of U.S. fundamentalists who have slurred Islam
since 9/11. Evangelist Franklin Graham, Billy's son, called Islam "a very
evil and wicked religion." Fundamentalist commentator Ann Coulter said "we
should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to
Christianity." At the Southern Baptist convention, Muhammad was called "a
demon-possessed pedophile." Etc., etc.
We always thought that religion was supposed to foster brotherhood and
kindness - not turn people against each other through hateful name-calling.
Maybe Falwell and his colleagues have a different view.
We agree with a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
who said of the evangelist: "Anybody is free to be a bigot if they want to."
---MUSLIMS PROTEST FALWELL INTERVIEW Muhammad called 'terrorist' on 60 Minutes JANETTE RODRIGUES, Houston Chronicle, 10/5/02 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1605481
The Islamic Society of Greater Houston organized a protest outside of KHOU-TV offices. Local Muslims criticized Jerry Falwell's statements on 60 Minutes, which airs tonight.
More than 100 Muslims demonstrated outside a local CBS affiliate Saturday to protest a 60 Minutes interview in which the Rev. Jerry Falwell brands the prophet Muhammad a "terrorist..."
Local Muslim leaders condemned Falwell, calling the statements made in the interview scheduled to air today on KHOU-Channel 11 bigoted, irresponsible and sacrilegious. They fear the religious right leader's comments may lead to attacks on American Muslims...
Ahmed Bhadelia, 9, of Sugar Land held a sign with his father, Abdul, that read: "We Respect all Prophets."
"I'm a Muslim and I never said anything against any other religions," he said. "So why do people say things about Islam?"
---
FALLWELL ASKED TO APOLOGIZE ANWAR IQBAL, United Press International, 10/6/02
WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 - Remarks by conservative Baptist minister Rev. Jerry Falwell, who called Prophet Mohammed a "terrorist," appears to have outraged Muslims across the globe with protests reported from India to Malaysia.
In the Indian state of Kashmir, Muslim protesters clashed with police while urging shopkeepers to observe a complete strike against the remarks. Elsewhere in India, Muslim groups held peaceful rallies to register their protest.
In most of the 57 Muslim nations across the world, newspapers prominently reported Falwells remarks. Some also wrote commentary pieces and editorials, urging the minister to apologize. In an interview with CBS "60 Minutes," Falwell said, "I think Mohammad was a terrorist..."
In response to Falwell's remarks, Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, said Friday: "Anybody is free to be a bigot if they want to. What really concerns us is the lack of reaction by mainstream religious and political leaders, who say nothing when these bigots voice these attacks."
"These attacks on Islam and Prophet Mohammad not only reveal utter ignorance of history, but also reflect on the paranoia of these evangelical leaders who just cannot see Islam as a major American religion with over 7 million followers in the United States," said a spokesman for the Islamic Society of North America, an umbrella group representing more than a dozen Muslim groups in North America...
In Malaysia, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad urged Muslims on not to take Falwell's remarks seriously.
Mahathir, 76, who leads a moderate, predominantly Muslim nation in Southeast Asia, said people who made such remarks were ignorant about Islam and its 7th century founder, Mohammad.
"They don't understand anything," Mahathir was quoted a saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "They don't understand Islam."
---
ADL CONDEMNS FALWELL'S ANTI-MUSLIM REMARKS U.S. NEWSWIRE, 10/4/02
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) strongly condemned Rev. Jerry Falwell's statement that the Prophet Mohammed "was a terrorist" and called on him to apologize to the followers of Islam. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
The Rev. Jerry Falwell has once again demonstrated his intolerance by his outrageous charge about the Prophet Mohammed. He owes an apology to the millions of good people who follow the Muslim faith. As a man of the cloth, he should be working toward bringing faith communities closer together, not driving wedges through them.
-----
============================================ Amadou O. Wane UNIX System Admin/DB Architect CIW Certified Info. Security Tampa, Florida Cell:(813) 992-5590 Pager:(813)402-7387 ============================================
---------------------------------------------------------------- Visitez http://www.mAliLink.net pour vous deconnecter Service offert par http://www.afribone.com ----------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) mAliLink