Posted on 01/04/2003 1:25:16 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Just as the bodies of the three American missionaries slain by an Islamic terrorist in Yemen are laid to rest so, apparently, is the news coverage of the atrocity, complains Southern Baptist minister and WND columnist Rev. Jerry Falwell.
The three were killed Dec. 30 when a lone gunman burst into the Baptist hospital in Jibla cradling a rifle hidden inside his coat as if it were a baby. He opened fire, shooting 60-year-old William Koehn of Texas, 53-year-old Kathleen Gariety of Wisconsin and 57-year-old Dr. Martha Myers of Alabama, each in the head. A fourth missionary, 49-year-old Donald Caswell of Texas, was seriously wounded.
On Thursday, Yemen authorities arrested Islamic militants Abed Abdul Razak Kamel in connection with the missionaries' murder and Ali al-Jarallah in connection with last week's slaying of Jarallah Omar, deputy leader of Yemen's Socialist Party.
Security officials said the duo had plans to attack other foreigners, journalists and Yemeni political leaders and gave police a list of eight targets during their interrogation.
The missionaries are the latest Christians to be slain by Islamic militants around the world.
Falwell questions why the national media are ignoring these attacks.
"If a massacre were being conducted against people of color, God forbid, or groups like gays and lesbians, there would be an understandable outcry that would demand change," Falwell told Baptist Press. "It is a tragedy that Christian lives do not seem to have the same value to the national media."
As an example, he pointed to the more than 2 million Christians in Sudan who have been killed by the nation's militant Islamic regime in recent years, and yet there has been little coverage of the killings.
Falwell said America in general, and Jews and Christians in particular, have more to fear from radical Islam than from Nazism or communism in the past.
This isn't the first time Falwell has thumbed his nose at the politically correct.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Falwell came under fire late last year for asserting that "Muhammad is a terrorist."
On a "60 Minutes" broadcast Oct. 6, Falwell told CBS interviewer Bob Simon: "I think Muhammad was a terrorist. I read enough, by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war."
Falwell told WND just before the interview was aired that his intent was not to attack Muhammad.
"I have avoided that. But [Simon] was pressing me on the issue of Muhammad's behavior, his involvement in war, and I simply said what I do believe, that Muhammad is not a good example for most Muslim people."
Following the "60 Minutes" interview, a leading Islamic group in Canada announced its intention to take legal action against Falwell and the Canadian channels that broadcast the interview.
Canadian Islamic Congress President Mohamed Elmasry told WorldNetDaily he believes criminal charges could be brought against "the person who made the statement and any accessories he used" under the country's hate-crimes laws.
In a June 15 column, Falwell also defended fellow Southern Baptist pastor Dr. Jerry Vines for his controversial declaration that Muhammad was a "demon-possessed pedophile."
Falwell pointed out that Vines was referencing the new book, "Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs" written by scholars Ergun and Emir Caner, who are Christian brothers raised as Muslims, as well as the Hadith, considered a respected source for Islamic teaching among Muslim clerics and followers worldwide.
"If you want to raise the ire of the mainstream press and the swarm of politically correct organizations in this nation, just criticize Islam," Falwell mused. "If those in the media were doing their jobs, Dr. Vines would never have felt it necessary to point out these disquieting elements of an enigmatic religion."
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