Jerry Falwell calls Mohammed a "terrorist" tomorrow night on 60 Minutes:
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In a 60 Minutes interview with CBS News Correspondent Bob Simon, Falwell also affirms the Christian Right’s steadfast support for the state of Israel against its Islamic enemies and hints that right-wing religious groups are influencing U.S. government policy toward Israel. Right-wing Christians believe the turmoil in the Middle East is a harbinger of the second coming of Christ.
The interview with Falwell will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
"I think Mohammed 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 tells Simon. "In my opinion…Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think Mohammed set an opposite example."
When President Bush urged Israel to remove its forces from Palestinian towns earlier this year, Falwell sent him a personal protest and the White House received 100,000 e-mail protests from Christians.
Falwell say he believes Bush is well aware of the Christian constituency. "There are 70 million of us…[and] there’s nothing that would bring the wrath of the Christian public in this country down on this government like abandoning or opposing Israel on a critical matter," he says.
Falwell and conservative Christians support the Israelis and condemn their enemies because they believe the triumph of Israel is God’s will. The Jews’ return to their ancient homeland – and sole ownership of the territories Arabs and Israelis both lay claim to - is a precondition for the second coming of Christ, according to the Fundamentalist Evangelical Christians’ interpretation of the Bible.
The Biblical scenario is not a savory one for many Jews, however. "God save us from these people," says Israeli political analyst Yossi Alpher. "When you see what these people are encouraging Israel and the U.S. to do…ignore the Palestinians, kick them out…they are leading us into a scenario of out-and-out disaster," he tells Simon.
Article comments
1 - Paul
That sound you're hearing is the cracking of knuckles in anticipation of ripping Falwell apart. Godspeed, gentlemen!
2 - KEN RICHMOND
Typical left wing comments. I saw the Rev. Fallwell on TV & he noted that the entire interview ran 1& 1/2 hours & this issue involved only a small portion of the interview.
3 - moriveth
Falwell is one of those outrageous figures dearly beloved by complacent liberals--the Al Sharpton of the Right. What better way to prove the unquestionable truth of your worldview than the obvious idiocy and intolerance of someone who disagrees with you?
Last I checked, the NAACP wasn't obliged to defend Louis Farrakhan. Taking Falwell seriously but ignoring the (very scary) views of some evangelical Christians is pure intellectual laziness.
But it's a lot less work to sneer, isn't it?
4 - Eric Olsen
Where exactly is the sneer? I thought I was very evenhanded about the story and took pains to take his view seriously.
I even said I was partially sympathetic with part of it. Some topics seem to draw kneejerk reactions from readers.
5 - moriveth
Nothing wrong with the writeup, Eric--my comment was directed at the "cracking of knuckles in anticipation of ripping Falwell apart" (not exactly a challenge, to be sure), and the typical hyperbolic reactions elsewhere to these and other comments by Falwell.
6 - Paul
Frauds, particularly self-righteous frauds who've built their fortunes on seperating people from their hard-earned cash in the name of religion, deserve ceaseless ridicule and mockery. We're not speaking of a humble man of simple faith, nor of an honest evangelist. We're speaking of a self-aggrandizing pig, who most definitely was not drug kicking and screaming into the national spotlight. He has sought fame and fortune by peddling himself as a "moral crusader", so he's opened himself up to inquiry about his statements and actions.
This is a man, who mere hours after 3,000 souls lost their lives in a vicious attack, blamed America. He blamed homosexuals, the ACLU and whatever group and organization he had been crusading against for the past 30 years for the attack. He said that "God had lifted the veil of protection" because of America's sins. This is someone who presents himself as a man of Christ, yet at the defining moment, proved himself to be nothing more than a petty Pharisee, interested more in personal and political gain than the suffering of his fellow man. By his fruits we know him. He is an opportunist, a liar and a hypocrite. He represents American Christianity at its most debased and grotesque, for his words echoed the thoughts of those who attacked us and sought our destruction. Sept. 11th was the litmus test that finally exposed Falwell for what he is: a petty, hateful, intolerant little man who seeks to control people and mold this country into his phantasmagoric interpretation of the Bible. His thoughts are no different from the Islamic extremists. They seek to destroy us for our debauchery and wickedness and Falwell believes we deserve such destruction because of the same. They fly planes into buildings. He raises money and tries to influence the political system in his furtive attempts to "return this nation to Christ", or rather his Pharasaic vision of Christ.
Since he is an enthusiastic national figure who purports to speak on the behalf of those who believes as he does, as well as in the name of God, he must be constantly shown to be the charlatan that he is. He must be ridiculed, mocked and exposed as a fraud, lest silence be mistaken for consent.
Mohammad may or may not have been a terrorist, but one thing is certain: on the day the towers came crashing down, Falwell agreed with the terrorists. And that's as far from an imitation of Christ as I can think of.
7 - moriveth
You are, if anything, too kind to Rev. Falwell. His religious and political views are radically reactionary. He's made enough outragous comments to make the late, lamented Newton Gingrich blush. In short, he's quite thoroughly discredited to mainstream America.
Which is precisely my point. How many Americans will change their opinion of Rev. Falwell because of his denigration of Islam? Two, perhaps even three digits? In any case, Falwell followers have probably long since abandoned the mainstream media.
I think a lot of good can come of examining the actual agenda of evangelical Christian groups (which, for the moment, is primarily inward-looking), including that of Falwell himself. At worst, a focus on Falwell's comments is a distraction from the more important issue of understanding the larger movement. At best, Falwell himself serves nicely as a quote factory--recall the use of Cynthia McKinney to the Right. But as he's unfortunately not in elective office, I can't think of any tactical, much less intellectual, reason to do more than ignore him for the present provocation.
Incidentally, I'm going with Samson as my favorite Biblical terrorist--er, "freedom fighter."
8 - Phillip Winn
I'm torn between wanting to (1) defend Falwell by pointing out that this statements which "blamed America" were widely echoed with more grace by people inside and outside of modern American Christianity or (2) defend myself as a modern American Christian by saying that Falwell doesn't speak for nearly as many of the 70 million as he thinks he does.
I've had a long weekend, so I'll go with the latter. While I'm as hard-core a Christian as you're likely to find, I don't think ad hominem attacks on a dead man accomplish anything. People have done some horrible things in Christ's name, and people are doing horrible things in the name of Islam. Falwell, incidentally, is doing some inane things in the name of Christ right now!
I haven't yet decided whether the "Islamists" truly represent the current core of Islam, or whether they are an over-reported abberation, but it really shouldn't matter.
I'll give props to Falwell for a few things - not relevant here - but his statements immediately following 9/11 were misguided and his personal denigration of Mohammed is simply ignorant.
9 - Cal Ulmann
I knew a lot of Christians who were not surprised and felt the US deserved the attacks of September 11th.
10 - Todd Dunayer
No one deserved to die on 9/11. For any person that considers themselves as a Christian to say that is a hypocrite. Whatever happened to loving thy neighbor?
The situation in Israel will never be resolved until religion is removed from the equation. Remove religion from any equation and you are one step closer to peace. We need tolerance of one another and accept our differences, whatever that may be: religeon, race, etc...
11 - Phillip Winn
Amusingly enough, the Scriptural justification Falwell used to support his "God is judging America" view is actually an indictment of Christians, not of the country as a whole. Specifically, the verse states that if "God's people," that is, Christians, will repent and so on, God will spare the entire country.
So *if* we assume, as Falwell does, that this verse applies today and that God judged America on 911 (I don't believe this, incidentally, for reasons too long and off-topic to list here), then it *still* isn't "America's" fault, it is the American church's fault.
So not only is he a shamefully judgemental person who avoid dealing with his own sin issues, he can't even properly exegete Scripture. Sad.