Via Media Matters (video included), O'Reilly interviewed R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and host of the daily Christian radio show The Albert Mohler Program:
Recently, preachers Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham expounded on Islam in this way:
ROBERTSON [video clip]: These people are crazed fanatics. And I want to say it now. I believe it's motivated by demonic power. It is satanic. And it's time we recognize what we're dealing with.
GRAHAM [video clip]: I've been working in Muslim countries now for, oh, 40 years or more. So I know about Islam. If people think Islam is such a wonderful religion, just go to Saudi Arabia and make it your home. Just live there. If you think Islam is such a wonderful religion, I mean, go and live under the Taliban somewhere.
O'REILLY: Now Robertson and Graham were unavailable this evening. Both are welcome on The Factor at any time. Joining us now from Louisville, Kentucky, Dr. Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Here's my problem with this. When you say something like that, [Arabic-language television news network] Aljazeera gets it, puts it on in the Arab world, and says, "See? All Americans think we're all terrible. They don't distinguish between the terrorists and the good Muslims, and they're our enemies." And it just creates more jihadists. Where am I going wrong?
MOHLER: Well, I say first of all that Franklin Graham and Pat Robertson in this case spoke the truth as Christian believers and as Christian truth-tellers, and that's their responsibility. And both of them are men of compassion. And in this case, I've criticized Pat Robertson for some of the things he's said. But on this one, Bill, I have to say I think he's just on target.
O'REILLY: So you think Islam is a demonic religion?
MOHLER: Well, I would have to say as a Christian that I believe any belief system, any world view, whether it's Zen Buddhism or Hinduism or dialectical materialism for that matter, Marxism, that keeps persons captive and keeps them from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yes, is a demonstration of satanic power.
O'REILLY: So you're going to go to peace-loving Hindus and look at them and say your religion is demonic, doctor? That's what you're going to do?
MOHLER: Well, you know, that's an historic Christian position. Just understanding like the apostle Paul, that the spirit of this age is blinding persons from understanding the Gospel.
O'REILLY: Can you point to me in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, one time when Jesus looked at a Jew and said, "You're in a demonic religion"?
MOHLER: Well, he certainly never called Judaism -- he was himself a Jew -- a demonic religion. He did speak of persons, however, being under demonic possession and speaking on behalf of the devil, rather than on behalf of his father.
Anybody who's paid attention to Pat Robertson knows he jumped the shark years ago. And Franklin Graham, son of the infamous Billy Graham and leader of Samaritan's Purse, has been on a crusade against Islam for years now. Remember that at Christmas time when his organization wants your children to stuff shoeboxes with supplies for his evangelizing. Do you want your children participating in a program run by this bigoted, extremist, so-called Christian?
What's even worse is that all of these men have the ear of the US president and they lobby hard to get what they want. Radical Islamists may be a threat to the physical security of the United States but these men and their ilk are actually influencing government policy. Think about that the next time you hear them talk about how persecuted Christians are in the US. Far from being victims, they're actually running the show.
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