Crisis in Tahrir

US preacher demands Obama act on “Muslim war against Christians”

| 25 February 2012 | Comments (11)

Franklin Graham

CAIRO: American preacher Franklin Graham called on US President Barack Obama to act on the “war on Christians” in the Islamic world being conducted by Muslims.

Graham, the son of famous evangelist Billy Graham, made the comments in response to the ongoing case against a 34-year Iranian pastor who is threatened with execution for his conversion to Christianity when he was 19-years-old.

“There’s millions of Muslims out there that don’t agree with this — they’re wonderful people, Greta — but they’re under the system of Sharia law [that] they can’t get out from under because the law — the Quran — demands if a person leaves Islam, they are to be killed,” Graham told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren.

“They’re given a chance to recant . . . but if they don’t recant, if they don’t denounce their faith, like this man was told to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ, but he refused to do it. And so therefore, they’re going to hang him.

“According to the court records, what we can determine, he never was a Muslim — his parents were Muslim and he [became] a Christian — I think it was at age 19 — and what they have charged him on is apostasy under Islamic law,” Graham said. “But since he hadn’t been a Muslim, they are going hang him anyway because his parents were Muslim.”

The Fox News host then said that Obama and the US administration is unlikely they could do much to intervene in the pastor’s situation. Graham, however, disagreed.

“The president could call for a prayer meeting at the White House. He could make a statement. We apologized to the Afghans because a Qur’an was mistakenly burned . . . and he apologizes to the Afghans after an Afghan soldier killed two Americans,” Graham said. “But why doesn’t he speak out? He could. He could use the power of the White House to call pastors together at the White House and have a prayer meeting for this guy, but he hasn’t done it.”

The statements haven’t gone over well in Egypt, where Christians continue to struggle to ensure full citizenship in the country.

Farid Zaky, a 22-year-old university student and Coptic Christian, told Bikyamasr.com that “these statements are just missing the point and the reality. The entire Islamic world is not Iran and there is not a war against Christians.”

He continued to say that Graham only listens “to certain voices and those people who give a wrong impression of Egypt and Muslims. We have problems, but we are working them out and getting dialogue going.”

BM

ShortURL: http://goo.gl/xceAY

Tags: , , ,

Section: Features, Latest News, Religion

Egypt in Crisis
Religion in Focus
  • D. M. Chapman

    I have a very interesting question…  If these ‘people of faith’ (regardless of the flavor) were so devout, faithful and trusting in their ‘deity’, then why do they not realize that it is that deity’s position to judge and to punish and to damn to eternal Hell those who do wrong? Why do they feel the need to take it upon themselves? That doesn’t really appear to be a very strong show of faith. To me, it sounds like people using religion as a form of hatred and division in order to promote and enforce their own opinions, through an organized group of followers who have no sense of religious tolerance, no clear understanding of the hypocrisy of freely choosing their own faith – yet, denying or criticizing others for doing the very same thing –  and since it is unassailable and indefensible. This is intellectually dishonest and ethically unacceptable. How can such action be attributable to benevolence, peace, humanity and virtue?

    Religion is not about claims, it is not about practice and not about history (which everyone knows is only partially accurate, at best, and full of tragic mistakes) – despite these nearly always being the points of contention and argument among those of different opinions. It is about right action and virtue. In addition to religion, there are also those who are not theistic and who are still quite capable of good virtue and right action, despite their lack of necessity for organized religion. Once again, this is a free choice, just like the ones exercised by the religiously faithful. I would really like to hear someone attempt to explain these discrepancies to me.

    I would also like people to consider the fact that it is not the ‘systems’, be they religious, economic, political, process/factory or otherwise…that are at fault or flawed, but people. Nobody is perfect, yet, all people in a system are not flawed and it is ludicrous to denounce an entire group for the misguided actions of a few. It is also not the responsibility of the truly faithful to keep those who have gone astray of the path from disturbing others, since those people often have faith in their deity and believe it will be taken care of or believe it is not their position to pass judgement.

    I believe that my statements are intellectually honest and my questions are fair. I also believe that many people causing strife in this world are neither intellectually honest nor fair. Take a look at what happened to politics, the media, etc., as a result of their intellectual dishonesty and bias. I don’t think it is the desire of anyone of faith to see their faiths being discarded onto the same heap of worthless propaganda as those were because of a lack of virtue and.or credibility. It may be something valuable to think about.

      Peace to you all…

            – D -

  • truthisliberty

    JESUS makes a sinner a Christian to denounce the Christian name is to denounce Christ. Islam is doing what Jesus said false religions would do Matthew 24:9
    “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.

    As for Obama he’s a fraud hiding behind the Christian name. ‘The Audacity Of Hope, “I will stand with them (Muslims) should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.” – Senator Barack Hussein Obama

    1 John 2:22
    And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.

  • labman57

    Muslims kill Christians, and vise versa.

    Jews kill Muslims, and vise versa.

    Catholics kill Protestants, and vise versa.

    Hindus kill Muslims, and vise versa.

    Christians kill Jews, and … well, not so much vise versa.

    And each group proclaims with absolute certainty that God is on their side … which is why I prefer to not equate spirituality with organized religion.

    • Modal08505

      What you are saying could havwe some merit, but it’s not very accurate. Chritians kill muslims? Where is that happening on anywhere near the scale that muslims are killing and harrasing Christians? Christians kiling Jews? Where. Jews killing muslims? Where? I’m not talking about military retaliation. I’m talking about dragging muslims out of thier houses and killing or arresting them for being muslims, nothing else. Where is that happening?

  • James Bartles

    Hey, Farid,

    Take a look at Southern (Upper) Egypt and the situation there between the Copts and the Muslims, or take a look north (Lower Egypt) and the Copts who are being evicted from their homes by Muslims, and tell me that there isn’t a problem.  Or can you not even see into your own backyard?

  • Maf_577

    We’re all human beings, we’re all the same, whether you call yourself a christian or a muslim or a Jew, those are just artificial labels forced upon society by man-made religions whose leaders are in it for the money and power.

    How can your faith be more important than your humanity? Especially when all of the faiths, diverse and confrontational as they are have zero evidence to support them? For what…so that you can recline on your couch in heaven?

  • Pingback: US preacher demands Obama act on “Muslim war against Christians” - News | Orthodoxy Cognate PAGE

  • Paul Felix Schott

    Miss led Middle Easterners have threatened to kill and take measures
    against Christians sounds like bullying bad boys. That their Mother and
    Father never showed them right from wrong. All the good on Earth want
    peace Not War. If you cannot have your way you are going to hurt
    someone this sounds like a mad men to most of the world.

    If
    someone really cares for them, give them a Bible with red letter print.
    That is a red letter edition words that were spoken by are Lord and
    Savior Jesus Christ. With a Pray for them the lost maybe they will be
    saved, and not go to hell.

    Remember for over a Thousand years you have taken you life at risk from the
    wicked for carrying a Bible. They have burned the Bible in public many times they have cut off the head of
    anyone carrying one many a times. They have bombed many a Christian Church, Killing many.

    The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East has gone on for over two thousand years.

    The
    Leaders of many Christian groups have criticizes Muslim leaders and
    Leaders of governments for failing to intervene after series of deadly
    attacks on Christians and their Churches in many countries around the
    World, each Christmas.

    Killing at least 35 Christians Christmas
    day Church, Nigerian 2011. Killing over 20 Christians New Year’s Eve
    mass Egypt 2011.  50 killed Christians at a Catholic Cathedral
    Baghdad 2010. Over 200 injured Christians Imbaba region by Cairo 2011.  The list goes on
    and on and has for many years now. Have you for got so easy many American’s like Paul Marshall Johnson, Jr.
    that was kidnapped and then beheaded in Saudi Arabia in 2004. While
    thousands gathered and prayed for the wicked to let him go, Till all
    heard the sound coming from THE PATRIOTIC TRUMPET PLAYER, Monica D. Key
    Lindbergh playing taps.

      How many Muslim Churches have been attacked or bombed while
    they are in there
    church by Christians? Answer 0

    The World wants Peace not more wars.

    If you think the
    wicked want peace read this then go look at some of their web sites!

    There is a video on official Hamas TV that calls for Allah to all kill Jews, Christians,
    Communists and any of their supporters they can find. This video asks Allah to “count
    them and kill them to the last one, and don’t leave even one.”

    Hamas TV. You will have Air mail incoming very soon. It is Very Sad you do not want
    peace and ask for WAR.

    If you think or believed that Israel-Iran relations will improve or Iran with The
    Persecution of Christians World Wide.

    Just read this

    1997
    Iranian President Mohammad Khatami,
     called Israel an
    “illegal state and a “parasite,”

    The Iranian Chief of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps,
    “The IRGC”
    Mohammad Ali Jafari
    said “Israel was within the reach of Iranian missiles”.
    IRGC is listed by the U.S. Government and our CIA as a terrorist organization.
    With
    many ties to an assassination campaigns in the
    1980s and early 1990s with paid  mercenaries from many countries
    that targeted many opponents, and rigged elections.

    December 2000
    Ayatollah Ali Khamenei he has called Israel many things even went as far as to say it is a
    “cancerous tumor” that should be removed from the region.
    “Act Of War” against Israel.

    JULY 2008
    Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki said “that Israel was
    not capable of an attack”.

    JULY 2008
    Ahmadinejad…..he said, “The Iranian nation never recognized Israel
    and will never ever recognize it.

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei he stated, “It is incorrect, irrational,
    pointless and nonsense to say that we are friends of Israeli people…
    we are on a collision course with the occupiers of Palestine and the
    occupiers are the Zionist regime. This is the position of our regime,
    our revolution and our
    people.”

    February 7, 2010, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said
    “the destruction of Israel was assured” According to the daily newspaper Teheran Times.
    Another “Act Of War” against Israel.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei,
    said “that if Israel attacked Iran it would be destroyed within a week”

    Iranian Funding of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah
    A mural in Tehran, Iran. The mural depicts the emblem of Lebanon’s Hezbollah,
    and quotes the founder of The Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, saying:
    “Israel must be destroyed.”
    Another “Act Of War” against them.

    Iran has been for years supplying weapons and political support to Hamas an
    organization that is committed to the destruction of Israel by Jihad  According
    to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, “Hamas is funded
    By Iran.

    It has claimed it has been financed by peace loving donations, but the donations
    they get are nothing at all like what it receives from Iran for its
    Wicked Deeds and acts. All the Big Bankers of the World can see this.
    Another “Act Of War” against Israel.

    Iran is also supplying another enemy of Israel, the well know terrorist organization
    Hezbollah with more then what you would call just a substantial amount of financial
    support and weapons, explosives and training of how to use them and political,
    diplomatic, and organizational aid while persuading Hezbollah to take wicked actions
    against Israel. Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as “Israel’s
    final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration” According to
    reports released in February 2010, Hezbollah has received $400 million dollars from
    Iran. That the World knows about.
    Another Clear “Act Of War” against
    Israel.

    October 11, 2011 the CIA AND THE FBI Of the United States Of America stopped a
    terrorist plot by the Iranian Government Leaders that included (bombing the Israeli
    “as well as Saudi”
    Embassies in Washington, DC and Buenos Aires).
    All Nations involved do claim this as  
    An “Act Of War” against them.

    Can you carry a Bible in Iran without them trying to kill you.
     Devil at war with GOD.

    Israel Will Strike Iran, British Intelligence is now saying.

    The 43rd President George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser and Chief Foreign Policy
    Adviser Stephen Hadley is now Warning the world. That there clearly exists a very high
    risk to say the least that Iran and the United States very soon will most likely end up
    in a military conflict. As the deterioration of views and political relations between
    Iran and many other countries as Iran Leader acts more like a little kid. Making all

    the Middle East more unstable.

    With growing reports out of Israel that an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities is likely,
    former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice  told  Ron Kessler of  Newsmax’s in an one
    on one interview that she has no doubts in her mind that Israel will take the necessary
    actions to stop Iran’s mullahs from making or getting Nuclear Weapons. Condoleezza Rice
    has a book, Called “No Higher Honor” A Memoir of My Years in Washington,” reveals her
    insights into the war against Al-Qaida, what really happened in Iraq, and the real rising
    threat of Iran.
    From her work as the National Security Adviser with President George W. Bush in his first
    term before succeeding Colin Powell to become Secretary of State in his second term.
     

    May our Lord Jesus Christ and GOD the Father that is in Heaven,
    Guide and Watch over us.

    In this time of TRIBULATION, Strengthen
    your Faith, and encourage
    all to pray for their souls. The strong in the word of our Lord will Now
    Help the World and be the disciples of our Lord’s Word.

    United We Will Always Stand That
    In GOD We Trust
    True Patriots

    The Lord’s Little Helper
    Paul Felix Schott

    PS.
    Further diligence is required stay on your guard and watch. The LORD’s Amy will come soon enough.

    GOD Bless You and Your Love ones
    Give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ every day.

    READ
    Luke 21:20-22

    IRAN
    … The World is going to Renewable Energy with all the SUNLIGHT we get
    SOLAR Energy would be very easy to do hear. Do you think the rest of
    the world will see what we are really doing building more Reactors then
    we could ever use in a country this size?
     

  • Dragonbang

    The Quran does NOT say muslims who denounce their faith should be killed. They are simply outcasted from that community. and as for war against Christianity? get real please. thats such a pathetic excuse for attention. or is Mr. Graham still living in the shadow of his father? dont let SOME muslims’ erring views cast a blanket opinion over Islam as a religion. Think before you speak… Oh, I forgot, you’re an American….

    • James Bartles

      “Some Muslims”???

      Are you blind man?  There are quite a few more that you seem willing to acknowledge, and what about the ones (like you) who are just dismissive of the whole thing?

    • truthisliberty

      History and statistics shows Muslims have been amongst the most violent on earth. Muslims who do not reject Muhammad the false prophet for God’s son Jesus Christ are not children of GOD. They are children of the devil and doing his work. JESUS said of the Lucifer “he comes to kill, steal and destroy” that’s the essence of Muhammad and his true followers.