http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20021113/ts_nm/bush_muslims_dc_4
Now I'm just going to brace myself for the INEVITABLE response.
Now I'm just going to brace myself for the INEVITABLE response.
Bush Takes on Christian Right Over Anti-Islam Words
Wed Nov 13, 6:26 PM ET
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Wednesday took on the Christian right core of his political base, denouncing anti-Islamic remarks made by religious leaders including evangelist Pat Robertson.
Bush said such anti-Islamic comments were at odds with the views of most Americans.
"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 told reporters as he began a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites).
"By far, the vast majority of American citizens respect the Islamic people and the Muslim faith. After all, there are millions of peaceful-loving Muslim Americans," Bush said.
"Ours is a country based upon tolerance ... And we're not going to let the war on terror or terrorists cause us to change our values."
Bush did not identify conservative Christian leaders as his target, but White House officials said he was prompted by the anti-Islamic remarks of some of them, particularly religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who reportedly said this week Muslims were "worse than the Nazis."
"He (Bush) wanted a clear statement," a senior White House official said.
Spokeswoman Angell Watts of Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network said she had no immediate comment.
A representative of a Muslim-American civil rights group, which had stepped up calls for Bush to repudiate such remarks, welcomed Bush's words.
"Obviously, we'd like to hear him repudiate these people by name, but we appreciate that he's moving in that direction," said Ibrahim Hooper of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
"It's encouraging to see that the president is finally addressing the issue of Islamophobia in America by addressing a specific attacks on Islam. This is a new stance, and it's one that we would encourage and support," Hooper said.
BID TO DISCOURAGE BACKLASH
Bush's efforts to discourage a backlash over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, which were blamed on Islamic militant Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), have come increasingly into conflict with antipathy to Islam shown by some conservative Christians, a core of his support.
Robertson, a popular conservative commentator who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, was criticized by CAIR and the American Jewish Committee for reportedly saying on his network Monday, "Adolf Hitler was bad, but what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse."
Jerry Falwell, a Baptist minister and leading voice of the Christian right, in an October television interview described the prophet Mohammad as a "terrorist."
Evangelist Franklin Graham, who gave the sermon at Bush's inaugural service in 2001, has also been criticized for comments on Islam. Asked about Bush's comments on Wednesday, Graham spokesman Mark DeMoss said Graham was traveling abroad.
"He has not added to any comment he's made on the subject in months, because he's getting tired of getting asked about it, and any time he answers about it he gives the impression he's crusading on this issue and he's not," DeMoss said.
"By far, the vast majority of American citizens respect the Islamic people and the Muslim faith. After all, there are millions of peaceful-loving Muslim Americans," Bush said.
Almighty to Remain in Pledge and Motto
Bush signs bill in wake of a court ruling that references to God violate Constitution.
From Associated Press
November 14 2002
WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Wednesday signed into law a bill reaffirming -- with a slap at the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals -- references to God in the Pledge of Allegiance and the national motto.
Bush signed the bill without comment. It reinforces support for the words "under God" in the pledge, and for "In God we trust" as the national motto.
The bill was approved unanimously in the Senate and drew just five no votes in the House. Congress rushed to act after the federal appeals court in California ruled in June that the phrase "under God," inserted into the pledge by Congress in 1954, amounted to a government endorsement of religion in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. The legislation faulted the court for its "erroneous rationale" and "absurd result."
The new law also modifies the manner in which the Pledge of Allegiance is to be delivered by stating that, when not in uniform, men should remove any nonreligious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Previously, the standard dictated that "any headdress" be removed.
Americans that occurred after Sept. 11.
By Arianne Aryanpur
Times Staff Writer
November 14 2002
WASHINGTON -- A human rights group commended the swift state and federal response to increased hate crimes against Muslims after the Sept. 11 attacks but said government should have anticipated the wave of violence and taken steps to head it off.
In a 41-page report, New York-based Human Rights Watch asserted that as long as conflict in the Middle East continues and further terrorism in the United States remains likely, government officials must expect more hate crimes against the Muslim community and focus on preventing it.
The report, to be released today and drawing on FBI data, documented a 17-fold increase in hate crimes against Muslims in six cities with large Arab populations or large numbers of hate crimes -- Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Phoenix, New York and Dearborn, Mich. These figures compare all of 2001 with all of the previous year, with the bulk of the incidents in 2001 occurring after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The FBI said Los Angeles County reported that anti-Arab hate crimes shot up from 12 in 2000 to 188 in 2001, slightly below the six-city average.
"In many cases, government officials responded quickly and vigorously to the backlash violence," the Human Rights Watch report said. "President Bush and numerous state and city officials publicly condemned anti-Arab hate crimes."
But the report also found fault. "Government officials didn't sit on their hands while Muslims and Arabs were attacked after Sept. 11, but law enforcement and other government agencies should have been better prepared for this kind of onslaught," said Amardeep Singh, U.S. programs researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Singh said "backlash" hate crimes against American Muslims were predictable given the increased violence against Muslims after the Persian Gulf War and the Oklahoma City bombing.
While officials ultimately linked the Oklahoma bombing to an American terrorist, many Americans first assumed that Arab terrorists were behind the attack. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights organization, recorded more than 200 incidents of Muslim harassment or assault in the days after the attack.
"Since Sept. 11, a pall of suspicion has been cast over Arabs and Muslims in the United States," Singh said. "Public officials can reduce bias violence against them by ensuring that the 'war against terrorism' is focused on criminal behavior rather than whole communities."
The report recommended enhancing programs already in effect in at least some of the six cities. It praised the local and state governments that held news conferences, established community outreach programs and deployed police at Muslim gathering places to prevent crimes. The Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission notified police of potential "hot spots" such as mosques and Arab-owned convenience stores, according to the report.
"I think these are very legitimate areas of concern," said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokeswoman Hodan Hassan. She underscored the need for establishing better relations between law enforcement and American Muslims.
"We can start by sensitizing law enforcement officials to the needs of the Muslim community through diversity training that will teach them what is Islam, what do these people believe in, what are their customs," she said.
deep said:I have no problem praising the Bush administration when I deem it is warranted.
These remarks are good. They are overdue.
I would have more respect for W. is he had said this when it might have cost him. Why did he not make these remarks when Falwell made his ignorant remarks, why did he not speak up before the election.
melon said:I find that most of the people making these anti-Islamic remarks are in no position to comment; their own "Christian" beliefs are quite extremist and repugnant to start with.
But I can't say I'm an Islam lover myself. I have a few choice comments I just keep to myself.
Melon
Popmartijn said:Hello,
What response are you expecting then? I, for once, fully support his remarks and totally agree with your subject line here. (Religious) Extremism is bad, be it from the Islamic, Jewish, Protestant, Catholic or whatever faith.
C ya!
Marty
Ft. Worth Frog said:I have yet to see a Christian pastor call for a fatwa against somebody (correct me if I am wrong here)
But, on a side note, Islam was born a religion of conquest unlike the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. The Crusades can hardly be called Christian. However, Mohammed himself conqured to spread his new religion. To say it was born peacefully is a direct contradiction to what history tells us.
Popmartijn said:Why can't the Crusades be called Christian? I'd say they were very Christian, as the religious leaders called for the Crusades to conquer Jerusalem. Maybe the actions of the Crusaders weren't very Christian, but they did it because of their religion.