Evangelical Christians Take Aim at Islam

N E W   Y O R K, Nov. 19 -- The nation's leading evangelical Christians have been thundering against Islam — both from the pulpit and on television.

"I think Mohammed was a terrorist," said conservative preacher Jerry Falwell in a televised interview. "I have read enough of the history of his life, written by both Muslims and non-Muslims, that he was about a violent man, a man of war."

That comment and others from some conservative Christians have expressed harsh opinions of the founder of Islam.

"This man was an absolute wild-eyed fanatic," said Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition. "He was a robber and a brigand. And to say that these terrorists distort Islam? They're carrying out Islam!"

"Adolph Hitler was bad, but what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse," Robertson added.

The Rev. Jerry Vines said at a Southern Baptist convention, "Islam was founded by Mohammed, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives, and his last one was a 9-year-old girl."

And televangelist Jimmy Swaggart said, "You know what we ought to do? We ought to take every single Muslim student in every college in this nation and ship them back to where they came from."

Bush Administration Responds

For months, President Bush, who frequently says Islam is a religion of peace, declined to condemn these statements. Until now.

"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 said.

Secretary of State Colin Powell followed suit. "This kind of hatred must be rejected," he said. "This kind of language must be spoken out against."

Critics suggest the administration waited to condemn the statements from leading evangelists because they didn't want to alienate a key constituency before the midterm elections. The White House denies the claim.

What is clear is that evangelical attacks on Islam risk further alienating key Arab allies as the United States prepares for a possible war against Iraq.