Religion, Theology and Self-Improvement Sundays: Many Whites Share Rev. Jerry Falwell's View On Islam

Although he tried to spin his comments about Islam, Rev. Jerry Falwell, in many ways, represented the great fear of Islam that many Whites, throughout the world, privately hold on to. In fact, this is nothing new. As we have mentioned before, there has been a very deliberate attempt to keep Islam out of the Western Hemisphere and to wipe from history the fact that the Holy Qur'an and the spread of Islam were at the very base of the technological and cultural advancement of Whites throughout the world. We have cited as an example, the European Renaissance.

Any good student of the European Dark Ages knows that the study of the Kabbalah and the Holy Qur'an provided the inspiration for much of Europe's enlightenment.

Yet and still, in Europe and America, an all-out and at times, not so subtle war against Islam has been waged by White American and European political leaders and by Christian theologians.

The relationship between Whites and Islam has always been paradoxical with White elites, in private and intellectual circles, displaying respect for Islam and its impact on science, culture and civilization. However, that respect has frequently been coupled with a parallel effort to prevent the public spread of Islam.

This paradox continues with Rev. Falwell's comments, as we are sure Rev. Falwell is aware of and personally knows numerous White Shriners - who observe Islamic rituals in public settings and who study and practice Islam in private. There are numerous White Christian pastors who are Shriners, particularly in the southern United States, whom Rev. Falwell knows and frequently interacts with.

And most importantly, as much of Rev. Falwell's comments were dealing with Islam and politics in America, it must be noted that numerous US Presidents and Congressmen have been Shriners. We are aware that there are some today, in the US Congress.

We wrote about this in our editorial "Ramadan Mubarak" last November.

Here, for the record, is part of the segment of the Falwell interview at BeliefNet.com:

"I think the Moslem faith teaches hate. I think there's clear evidence that the Islam religion, wherever it has majority control--and I can name a dozen countries--doesn't even allow people of other faiths to express themselves or evangelize or to exist in their presence.... I think that when persons are clearly bigoted towards other persons in the human family, they should be disqualified from funds. For that reason, Islam should be out the door before they knock. If you're not going to minister to blacks, whites, all colors and religions, and you're not going to allow freedom of expression in every circumstance...you should not be allowed to dip into the pork barrel.

Islam is growing among African American young people. It's growing in the prisons. And whenever Islam, God forbid, ever gets a majority in the United States--like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, all the Moslem countries--free expression will disappear."

It is very clear, from his comments, that Rev. Falwell's deep fear is the spread of Islam in America. He sees the seeds of that occurring among Blacks in America. And then, he is obviously concerned about the spread of Islam throughout the world.

He, like many other Christian pastors, many of whom are Black, are threatened and feel very insecure about the rapid spread of Islam among Blacks, indigenous groups and the poor in America and throughout the world.

In voicing these concerns, Falwell has very prominent company.

In the early 1970s it was President Richard Nixon who indicated that it was not Communism, in his view, which was the real enemy of America, the West and capitalism, but rather, that enemy, according to Nixon, was fundamentalist Islam.

It is that spirit that Falwell and Nixon share, which worked to keep Islam from spreading in the Western Hemisphere, particularly during the time of slavery. And it is that spirit that works to make sure that Turkey never becomes an Islamic power again and which hopes to prevent the spread of Islam throughout Continental Europe.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Cedric Muhammad

Sunday, March 11, 2001