Two leading evangelical Christian missionary organizations said
Tuesday that they have teams of workers poised to enter Iraq to
address the physical and spiritual needs of a large Muslim
population. . . .
Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, has been less
diplomatic about Islam than his father has been. Two months after
the Sept. 11 attacks, Franklin Graham called Islam "a very evil and
wicked religion" during an interview on NBC, the television network.
In his book published last year, "The Name," Graham wrote that "The
God of Islam is not the God of the Christian faith." He went on to
say that "the two are different as lightness and darkness."
On the eve of the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis last
year, the Rev. Jerry Vines, a former denomination president, told
several thousand delegates that Islam's Allah is not the same as the
God worshipped by Christians. "And I will tell you Allah is not
Jehovah, either. Jehovah's not going to turn you into a terrorist,"
Vines said. . . .
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."-- Psalms
2:8, The King James Version (Authorized)
[Franklin Graham, son of the Rev. Billy Graham and one of the
nation's most outspoken critics of Islam, said Wednesday he has relief workers
"poised and ready" to roll into Iraq to provide for the
population's post-war physical and spiritual needs.
Graham, who has publicly called Islam a "wicked" religion, said the
relief agency he runs, Samaritan's Purse , is in daily contact with
U.S. Government agencies in Amman, Jordan, about its plans.--Deborah
Caldwell, "Poised and Ready," BeliefNet, March 27, 2003]
["The U.S. government this week launched its Arabic language
satellite TV news station for mostly Muslim Iraq. It is being
produced in a studio - Grace Digital Media - controlled by
fundamentalist Christians who are rabidly pro-Israel."--Russell
Mokhiber and Robert Weissman, "U.S. Hires
Christian Extremists to Produce Arabic News," AlterNet, May 2,
2003]
["In an unusual public rebuke, leading evangelical Christians
condemned derogatory statements about Islam by the Rev. Franklin
Graham and others among their fellow religious
conservatives."--Rachel Zoll, "Evangelical Leaders Condemn
Statements," Associated Press, May 7, 2003]
["Evangelical scholars and leaders cite several reasons for their
quickening interest in Islam: the American defeat of a major Muslim
nation, Iraq, which may open it to Christian missionaries, while
other Muslim nations remain closed; the 2001 terrorist attacks,
which led many Americans to see Islam as a global threat; the
greater numbers and visibility of Muslims in the United States, and
the demise of Communism, once public enemy No. 1 for many
evangelical organizations."--Laurie Goodstein, "Seeing
Islam as 'Evil' Faith, Evangelicals Seek Converts," New York
Times, May 27, 2003]