Posted on 04/16/2003 11:19:30 AM PDT by Remedy
U.S. military officials are refusing to give in to demands from some Muslims who say Franklin Graham shouldn't be allowed to speak at a Pentagon Good Friday service.
The Washington Times reports three Muslim employees at the Pentagon registered complaints when they learned that Graham was scheduled to speak there this Friday. Apparently they felt the well-known evangelist disqualified himself because he has stated publicly that Islam is a "very evil and wicked religion."
But Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Ryan Yantis says he is not aware of any plans to un-invite anyone. As he puts it: "One religion, regardless of the religion, does not have the veto right over another religion."
Yantis also notes that separate Muslim services are scheduled at the Pentagon the same day because Friday is the Islamic sabbath.
Graham's characterization of Islam being an "evil and wicked" religion came shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At the time, he noted that no Muslim clerics had gone to the World Trade Center to offer prayers or to apologize to the nation in the name of Islam. Anti-Graham Bandwagon
The Council on American Islamic Relations has also demanded that Graham's international relief organization, Samaritan's Purse, not be allowed to do charitable relief work in Iraq. That criticism comes despite the fact, as World magazine's Mindy Belz points out, that Graham's group has been reaching out to Muslims for years in countries such as Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.
And Belz notes that some religion news outlets were among the first to suggest that Graham, because of his post-9/11 comments, is unfit to serve in Iraq. She says both Religion News Service and Beliefnet have questioned the evangelist's motives, the latter stating in a piece by its editor-in-chief and co-founder that President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell should step in and prevent Graham from doing charity work in that nation.
But a spokesman for the U.S. Agency for International Development, in response to questions from the press, stated: "What private charitable organizations choose to do without U.S. government funding is ultimately their decision." As Belz notes in her World column, that amounted to a quick lesson for reporters on First Amendment rights.
A spokesman for Samaritan's Purse tells World there is irony in the controversy. Ken Isaacs says the relief agency has "excellent solid relationships on the ground because we love people without condition, and they respect us for that. The platform of our witness is built on the quality of our work."
I agree with Franklin Graham about Islam. I also believe that Muslims have the same rights to their beliefs as the rest of us do. They just don't have the right to criminal activity.
Very well said. Here's a quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn that speaks to the same issue:
"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being and who is willing to destroy his (or her) own heart?" - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
While I am very concerned about the Radical Islamic threat to our nation, I think that you are right to point out that we should not pretend that we are completely pure ourselves, and need to guard against the destruction of religious freedom and the First Amendment....
This is not an easy issue to grapple with, and we must resist the (very strong) temptation to make this a "black and white" issue.
It the answer is not available in the clipboard, no pasting is possible.
Answer my question about the employees. Why are they allowed to work there and why is it okay to have a minister there who insults their religion?
I agree the anology was not the best, but it was good enough for the rant. Iraq was not evil but some of its citizens were murdering terrorists. You can kick the dog all you want, but it will only bounce so many ways.
Would you have them fire people who make comments based on real-world observations? The "insults" were not aimed at Islaam, they were aimed at the so-called "Leaders" of Islaam for not condemning the terrorism. In fact, many of them tried to excuse or justify it. Under those conditions, if the Pope said it was OK to murder innocents because you weren't getting your way, the Catholic religion could be deemed evil. If you think someone who disdains Islaam shouldn't be working around people of the Islaam faith, you might be better motivated to find and stress the good points of the religion. It's a free country and, except for the fallout of politics, it's supposed to be OK to disagree and even dislike others just so long as you don't try to harm them. If you want to posit that having their religion demeaned "harms" them, I would have to say, grow up and grow a thicker skin and try to prove the nay-sayers wrong...
The presence of these employees indicates to me that they are doing their job or Rumsfeld would can them. They have a right to say, don't bring in this guy who insuts our religious beliefs. And I agree with them. Graham needs to learn how to respect the good and condemn the bad or he should stay inside during lightening storms.
To ascribe to Mr. Graham any wrongdoing for saying that Islam is an evil religion begs two questions in response:
1: Have you ever seen a Christian with C-4 plastique-and-ball-bearings taped to his chest?
2: Do you have the right to tell God what His religion should look like?
The Bible teaches that there are many paths to Hell, but only one path to Salvation, and that path is belief in The Messiah, Jesus Christ; also that any who believe not in Christ but come "in the name of God" are deceivers doing Satan's work.
Mr. Graham not only has the right, but the obligation to call Islam just what it is... and evil, false religion peopled by deceived tools of Satan.
Mr. Grahamn says these things because the Bible demands it. "You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists." G. W. Bush, September, 2001
;-/
Islam is a tool of the deceiver, and he is Satan.
Gotta love it bump!
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