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."
Hey, somebody's got to do it. Why not ol' Jer?
It is refutable.. The Koran also advocates no forced religion? Did you know that?
You can take parts of the Old Testament and make the exact same statement about Christians and Jews, the left has been doing it for years in fact.
We have laws here, we are a nation of laws and destroying our first amendment will do nothing more than put us all on a slippery slope.
You don't care because Christians here are in the majority, for now. You feel there is safety in mumbers today so you aren't worried about the consequences of your actions or your precedent tomorrow.
That's unconstitutional, it's short sighted, it's unjust and it's not conservative.
1) You drew no such distinction.
2) We are going to get the bad guy's in the Mid East. they are terrorists and tyrants. We're getting them already.
There's no reason to deport muslims like my ex-maintenance man? If he's bad we have laws to address that. We don't need to crank up a tyrany of our own.
Falwell is 100% right about the media bias.. Just like I said in my first post.
He hit it right on the money.
Well, then, I owe you the most abject of apologies for misconstruing your position. I stand corrected: And apologize.
Oh Bite me.
LOL! You didn't "catch" me at anything..
Your entire argument has been one long, arbitrary rant to justify your bigotry and hate.
I do appreciate it.
We aren't going to agree on this.
You forget, Baptists get murdered for opening hospitals in poor Muslim countries, not the other way around. Your Constitutional defence of Islam is admirable, but won't insulate you from their wrath if they ever acheive their goals of killing and enslaving all who oppose them.
That depends on interpretation and context, especially of many Old Testament passages...which I have even heard so-called "Christians" claim are easily interpreted likewise as you interpret the Koran passages.
And many Muslims also claim those Koran passages are misinterpreted and taken out of context by those who advocate violence.
So this argument can go round and round.
It's so hard to choose...probably whichever one offends the most people and aggravates already volitile sitituations in the world.
Jerry's pretty good at choosing which statements he needs to apologize for.
Falwell is right on, the lamestream media coverage of the death of these three Christians and the massacres in the Sudan pale in comparison to the death of CNN's journalist.
And this is news to you?
What in this article should Falwell apologise for Jorge? Get back to me post enema.
Christians = only group that it is fair to mock and discriminate against
God bless Falwell for truth speaking
That depends on interpretation and context, especially of many Old Testament passages...which I have even heard so-called "Christians" claim are easily interpreted likewise as you interpret the Koran passages.
And many Muslims also claim those Koran passages are misinterpreted and taken out of context by those who advocate violence.
So this argument can go round and round.
Hi Jorge,
I just have two requests:
1) Show me one of these 'offensive' Christian passages.
You can't.
Oh I guess if you're a homosexual, a bestiality imbiber, or a Canaanite you might have a reason to be offended -- but the Bible always holds out hope for those that repent.
2) Point to a link, or lucid explanation, that describes why the passages in the Koran/Hadith that encourage their readers to kill (if failing to convert) the infidel - don't mean what they say. And while you're at it, show me the passages that make it clear that a jihadist is going to rot in hell. I've really looked and haven't found them, and I'd appreciate any inputs.
What I have found is this 'broadbrushing' comparison of the Bible (and claims that un-named passages exist that tell us to kill unbelievers - which as I wrote earlier, is utter balderdash. The Bible tells the Christian to bring the Gospel - period. There is a lot of violence - but that is during the Judgement, and God is the Judge - not the believer) to the Koran/Hadith. If you want to push the moral equivalence angle - please don't wave a broadbrush and provide specifics. Thanks.
P.S. Just to be clear, I believe that the vast majority of people who call themselves muslims want to get along, and are peaceful. They just haven't gotten around to reading their book(s), or don't consider their words the inspired truth. My concern is that if they read their book(s), and accept these satanic lies as the truth - we have a problem. (on the other side of the coin it is unfortunate that many people who call themselves Christians don't read the Bible nor consider it to be God's inspired word).
In short the message for ALL of us: 'Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near'...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.