XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX THU OCT 03 2002 10:51:22 ET XXXXX
REV. JERRY FALWELL CALLS THE PROPHET MOHAMMED 'A TERRORIST'
The Rev. Jerry Falwell will call Islam’s founder and most sacred figure, Mohammed, "a terrorist" on 60 MINUTES this Sunday night, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
“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 CBS. “In my opinion…Jesus set the example for love, as did Moses, and I think Mohammed set an opposite example.”
Falwell hits total controversy while affirming the Christian Right’s steadfast support for the state of Israel against its Islamic enemies.
The interview with CBS reporter Bob Simon, in which Falwell hints that the Christian Right influences U.S. government policy toward Israel, has been set for broadcast, network sources say.
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Falwell sent a personal protest to President Bush, and the White House received 100,000 e-mail protests from Christians when Bush urged Israel to remove its forces from Palestinian towns earlier this year. Falwell 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,” Falwell tells Simon.
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.
But disaster is part of the scenario. Many Fundamentalist Evangelicals believe there will be catastrophic events on earth, some occurring already, including the turmoil in the Middle East, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon in which Christ will triumph and begin ruling the earth. At this point, they believe, non-believers will be destroyed, good Christians saved and any remaining Jews converted to Christianity.
Says Ed McAteer, a founder of the Moral Majority and known as the godfather of the Christian Right, “I believe that we are seeing prophecy unfold so rapidly and dramatically and wonderfully, and, without exaggeration, [it] makes me breathless.”
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