The Double Standard--Again

The following information appears in today's Washington Post @
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/30/AR2005043000672.html in an item entitled "Falwell's 'Pit Bull'":
"The new dean of the theological seminary at the Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., is a former Muslim who has been called the "intellectual pit bull of the evangelical world," according to his Web site. And Falwell's appointment of Ergun Mehmet Caner to take over the 2,000-student seminary in July has Muslim and Arab American groups bristling."

I rather think that Falwell could care less about the "bristling" of these groups. After all, he has made no secret as to how he feels about the tenets of Islam.

Again quoting from the article:
"[Caner] been around a long time and has a very strong conservative view that is more hostile to Islam than understanding of it," Ray Hanania, managing editor of TheArabStreet.com, told the Associated Press. "If Falwell wanted to send a strong message to Muslims, he might have done it by reaching out to mainstream Muslims, rather than extremists."
Notice here the implication that Hanania still considers Caner to be a Muslim, albeit an extremist, which also may imply terrorist to the careless reader. Hanania's statement harkens back to that Islamic tenet of once-a-Muslim-always-a-Muslim, and he does not recognize the existence of conversion to Christianity. Perhaps he believes that the only possible conversion is that of Christian to Muslim?

Now, whatever one thinks of Falwell, we all know that he is a Baptist evangelist. As such, he strives to fulfill the Great Commission ("Go ye to all the world"...), and having a former Muslim as dean of the seminary at Liberty University would certainly enable the fulfillment of the Great Commission. No doubt, Caner has excellent insights as to how to reach Muslims on a faith-to-faith level. It seems to me that training Christian missionaries to reach Muslims is a worthy goal, not only on a faith-level but also on an anti-terrorism level.

Beyond the issue of Falwell's new dean, why is it completely acceptable for Muslims to say what they wish about the Christian faith yet it is not acceptable for Christians to analyze and criticize Islam? Can you imagine the outcry if Falwell were to object to a teacher hired by a mosque? "Freedom of religion! Freedom of religion!" The item in the Washington Post implies that Caner is hateful. Will we see some liberal group target him for practicing a hate crime as he speaks out against the barbaric practices and theological inconsistencies of Islam?

Whatever one thinks of Falwell, he operates a CHRISTIAN college and hires Christians to teach there. Furthermore, unlike Al-Timimi (former teacher at the mosque in Falls Church, Virginia, and convicted traitor), Falwell does not advocate the overthrow of the United States government.

Frankly, I don't care what the Arab street thinks of Falwell's new dean! And I will continue to read books such as Caner's Unveiling Islam, Anis Shorrosh's Islam Revealed, and Ibn Warraq's Why I Am Not a Muslim. These authors have excellent insights, particularly Caner and Warraq, who left Islam for common reasons although Caner is a Christian and Warraq an atheist.