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Religious leaders denounced recent statements by influential members of the Christian Right
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By
Jamshed Bokhari, IOL Washington correspondent
WASHINGTON,
October 10 (IslamOnline) - Religious leaders representing various faiths
gathered here Wednesday, October 9, to denounce recent statements by
influential members of the Christian Right, who, in recent days, have
caste disparaging remarks concerning Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh), and called on U.S. President George W. Bush to publicly denounce
the remarks.
Addressing
an extremely sparse media audience at the National Press Club, Muslim,
Christian and Jewish leaders specifically addressed remarks made by
Jerry Falwell on CBS’ 60 Minutes program calling the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) a terrorist.
They
also expressed disdain toward similar remarks made by Franklin Graham,
who gave the inaugural prayer at Bush’s presidential inauguration in
January 2001, who commented, “The God of Islam is not the same
God…and I believe it is a very evil and wicked religion.”
Interfaith
Alliance vice president Rabbi Jack Moline, commenting on Falwell’s
assertions, said, “To describe Prophet Muhammad [pbuh] with such
criminal obscenities is like condemning all Christians with Hitler.”
Interfaith
Alliance executive director Rev. C. Welton Gaddy said such statements
emanate from the fringes of the Christian faith, from “a
fundamentalist interpretation of scripture,” to which Falwell adheres,
saying a close look at Falwell’s statements indicate they are not only
directed at Muslims.
In
the 60 Minutes appearance, Falwell asserted it was the fulfillment of
Biblical prophecy that Christians will ultimately control Jerusalem and
that any Jews therein will eventually convert to Christianity.
Moline
said he “expected better from religious leaders.”
Saying
that such statements are “the worst kind of politicization of
scripture,” Gaddy said Falwell and the Christian Right were engaging
in the “same kind of terrorism they are trying to denounce.”
In
making such assertions, Father Patrick Conroy commented, “Jerry
Falwell is a violent man, the man of war.”
Conroy,
critiquing Falwell’s comments from a Catholic perspective on relations
with non-Christians, said, “Falwell’s words are a return to what
Pope John Paul has denounced,” namely that they are a calculated
provocation of anger made by an individual who is accountable to no
religious authority, which, ultimately, carries no religious weight.
Fearing
comments emanating from the Christian Right could lead to violence
directed at Muslims, Muslim Alliance of North America (MANA)
representative Imam Johari Abdul Malik called, “on the government to
address those who would cause a civil war and foment hate.”
Sarah
Eltantawi, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), specifically
addressed Bush’s silence on the matter, saying, “The president’s
silence is viewed as complicity,” with the Christian Right, and called
on Bush to speak out against such types of statements.
Also
commenting on Bush’s silence on the matter, Gaddy asserted the
existence of a political alliance between the present administration and
the religious Christian right, stating that it is currently shaping U.S.
foreign policy.
Calling
on Bush to come clear on the association, Gaddy said, “We have a right
to know whether evangelical, fundamentalist interpretations of scripture
are running foreign policy.”
Rev.
Graylan Hagler, of the United Church of Christ and president of the
Muslim/Christian Coalition, agreed, charging that in this “political
climate of hate and intolerance,” where “there is a war mentality
and marginalization,” the present “administration reflects the views
of the Christian Right.”
Addressing
the lack of media response to the interfaith condemnation of Falwell,
Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom Foundation executive director
Mahdi Bray, commenting that 60 Minutes provided fifteen minutes of
national airtime allowing Falwell to preach hate, requested that
mainstream media provide the same coverage for those opposed to
Falwell’s views.
