On August 22, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Dr. Robert Jeffress declared Islam is an "evil religion." The "deep, dark, dirty secret of Islam," said Jeffress, is that "it is a religion that promotes pedophilia ... sex with children."
On August 28, a mosque site in Murfreesboro, Tennessee was vandalized by a fire that authorities are describing as an apparent arson.
I’m not saying the two events are connected, but I do think the close sequence is noteworthy. And I think fear-mongering talk like that of Dr. Jeffress is irresponsible.
After all, Dr. Jeffress does not carry the voice of some mere fringe group. He is the senior pastor of one of the most prominent churches in the largest Protestant denomination in the United States of America.
And he didn’t limit his remarks to particular groups, or particular individuals, or particular deeds. Rather, he characterized the entirety of the Islamic “religion” as being “evil.” And he said the “religion” itself promotes “sex with children.”
Can you imagine how insulted our Muslim neighbors must feel?
There are 1.57 billion Muslims in the world, and they are as diverse as Christians in theology and practice. Yet, Jeffress lumped the entirety of this “religion” into the category of “evil.”
When a high-level religious leader says such things, he feeds and fosters fear. Such anti-Muslim rhetoric helps to create a climate in which hate can thrive and violence can more readily sprout.
And let’s not forget, the fear-mongering remarks of pastor Robert Jeffress came just a few days after the remarks of televangelist Pat Robertson, who was also ordained as a Southern Baptist minister. Robertson said that Muslims could wind up taking over the Murfreesboro city council to pass ordinances that require public prayer and foot washing.
Yes . . . that would be the same Pat Robertson who also declared that the Haitian earthquake was the fault of the devastated Haitian people for having made a deal with the devil. So I’m sure some may think the name itself is “'nuf said.” But that’s precisely my point: I don’t think nearly enough is said.
Giving credit where credit is due, Southern Baptist officials Richard Land and Frank Page spoke out against the burning of the Murfreesboro mosque site. “It’s time for us to stand up for the tolerance we believe in,” said Page.
But where were their voices when one of their own, Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress, publicly declared Islam as an “evil religion”?
What a greater impact Southern Baptist officials might have if they would take a stand, not only against acts of physical violence and vandalism, but also against the sort of fear-mongering hate-speech that fosters the climate for such acts.
And they should denounce such hate-speech even when it means speaking out about one of their own most prominent pastors.
But I haven't heard Southern Baptist officials say anything at all about the fear-mongering of Dr. Robert Jeffress . . . and I don't imagine they will.
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9/8/10: See also (1) "Dallas pastor's broad-brush criticism of Islam goes way too far," Dallas Morning News; and (2) "Baptist leaders meet with Holder, denounce Baptists trashing Islam," Associated Baptist Press.
Update 11/2/10: Dallas mayor Tom Leppert is a member of First Baptist Church of Dallas. What must our Muslim neighbors think when they see that the senior pastor of such a prominent church can make such dreadful statements with so few other officials -- either public officials or religious officials -- who will step up to the plate and speak out against such statements?
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