Posted on 11/13/2002 4:24:18 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Wednesday took on the Christian right core of his political base, denouncing anti-Islamic remarks made by religious leaders including evangelist Pat Robertson.
Bush said such anti-Islamic comments were at odds with the views of most Americans.
"Some of the comments that have been uttered about Islam do not reflect the sentiments of my government or the sentiments of most Americans," Bush told reporters as he began a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
"By far, the vast majority of American citizens respect the Islamic people and the Muslim faith. After all, there are millions of peaceful-loving Muslim Americans," Bush said.
"Ours is a country based upon tolerance ... And we're not going to let the war on terror or terrorists cause us to change our values."
Bush did not identify conservative Christian leaders as his target, but White House officials said he was prompted by the anti-Islamic remarks of some of them, particularly religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who reportedly said this week Muslims were "worse than the Nazis."
"He (Bush) wanted a clear statement," a senior White House official said.
Spokeswoman Angell Watts of Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network said she had no immediate comment.
A representative of a Muslim-American civil rights group, which had stepped up calls for Bush to repudiate such remarks, welcomed Bush's words.
"Obviously, we'd like to hear him repudiate these people by name, but we appreciate that he's moving in that direction," said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"It's encouraging to see that the president is finally addressing the issue of Islamophobia in America by addressing a specific attacks on Islam. This is a new stance, and it's one that we would encourage and support," Hooper said.
BID TO DISCOURAGE BACKLASH
Bush's efforts to discourage a backlash over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, which were blamed on Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, have come increasingly into conflict with antipathy to Islam shown by some conservative Christians, a core of his support.
Robertson, a popular conservative commentator who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, was criticized by CAIR and the American Jewish Committee for reportedly saying on his network Monday, "Adolf Hitler was bad, but what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse."
Jerry Falwell, a Baptist minister and leading voice of the Christian right, in an October television interview described the prophet Mohammad as a "terrorist."
Evangelist Franklin Graham, who gave the sermon at Bush's inaugural service in 2001, has also been criticized for comments on Islam. Asked about Bush's comments on Wednesday, Graham spokesman Mark DeMoss said Graham was traveling abroad.
"He has not added to any comment he's made on the subject in months, because he's getting tired of getting asked about it, and any time he answers about it he gives the impression he's crusading on this issue and he's not," DeMoss said.
Actually I think your comments and my comments indicate we disagree about the president's role as our political leader, but feel free to insult my intelligence if you must. What since you've already spent considerable time being condescending.
I'm not sure many Christians would choose to explain or think of the Trinity as I do... by looking at Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation. ;-)
It's just that some "children" have erred along the way, some worse than others....Let's just say that it is generally recognized (even by Protestants) that Lutherans, Anglicans and Episcopalians are among the Protestant denominations closest to Catholicism.
OK but to come up with this statement someone has to do some comparative study, don't they? It just seems impossible to me to avoid looking at the flaws in another religion or faction/denomination when determining what you yourself believe.
I'm with you, bro.
The difference between Ann Coulter and some of the others you mentioned is Ann doesn't apologize for telling the truth!
Having conviction can be a bitch sometimes .
http://www.shianews.com/hi/americas/news_id/0000338.php
It's official - America's over six million Muslims should vote for George W. Bush as the country's next president on November 7.
This endorsement was made October 23 by the American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee (AMPCC-PAC).
Not all support Bush One group representing a number of African-American Muslims, the Coalition for Good Government, did not support the endorsement of Bush. As well, a number of Muslim immigrants have expressed support for Gore and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader in the upcoming election.
http://www.soundvision.com/info/politics/endorsement.asp
I agree with most of what you said about the way the people are subjugated into weakness. But I believe a case can be made that Islam has now become a bigger threat than it ever has been before. Islam is a religion of violence that is now witnessing a record number of converts including a record number in the American prison system. Our overcrowded prison system has created another country within America that is against law and order. Many of these criminals have found Islam an outlet for their rage against America.
Most Arabs in America are not Islamic or are not as Islamic as they were before they left their old country, because they hate the utter spell of hatred, ignorance, violence, and intolerance the religion places on its converts. To accept Islam is to accept these cultural vices.
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" F. State and Religion:
Muslims believe that Islam is a total and a complete way of life. It encompasses all aspect of life. As such, the teachings of Islam do not separate religion from politics. As a matter of fact, state and religion are under the obedience of Allah through the teachings of Islam. Hence, economic and social transactions, as we educational and political systems are also of the teachings of Islam. "
source:http://www.islam.org/mosque/Intro_Islam.htm
The Holy Prophet Mohammad was a rapist, a murderer, a slaver,and a peodophile.
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