The Rev. Jerry Falwell’s in the news again for supporting a Southern Baptist preacher who attacked Islam’s founder for being a “demon-possessed pedophile.” Rev. Jerry Vines, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, blamed religious pluralism in the United States for our nation’s many problems (what problems?) Vines said,
They would have us believe that Islam is just as good as Christianity. Christianity was founded by the virgin-born son of God, Jesus Christ. Islam was founded by Muhammad, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives, the last one of which was a 9-year-old girl.
. . .
And I will tell you Allah is not Jehovah, either. Jehovah’s not going to turn you into a terrorist.
And it’s not just Islam that Southern Baptist presidents have problems with. In 1987, former Southern Baptist president Bailey Smith told an audience that, “God almighty doesnÂ’t hear the prayer of a Jew.”
The real problem with Fallwell, Vines, et al is that they agree with the single worst aspect of Islam in completely rejecting secularism and a strict separation between church and state.
Source:
Anti-Muslim Remarks Stir Tempest Leading Evangelicals Back Baptist Preacher. Alan Cooperman, The Washington Post, June 20, 2002.