Evangelist's Tsunami Efforts Stir U.S. Muslim Group
By Manuela Badawy
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. Muslim group on Thursday accused evangelist Jerry Falwell of using money donated for tsunami relief to convert people in South Asia to Christianity and called on the Bush administration to denounce his actions.
In an e-mailed weekly newsletter called "Falwell Confidential," which was obtained by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the evangelist said: "Hundreds of thousands are in dire need of medical attention and personal counseling. And in this heavily Muslim part of the world, millions have never even heard of Jesus Christ."
The newsletter, which is distributed by Jerry Falwell Ministries, said donations would be used to distribute food and Gospel tracts in the region.
A Muslim who received the e-mail passed it on to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.
According to a statement on www.falwell.com and Liberty University's Web site, the school is preparing a team to travel to India, Sri Lanka and other countries in South Asia. Falwell founded Liberty University.
"Distribution of food and medical supplies, along with the dissemination of thousands of Gospel tracts in the language of the people will be the primary tasks of the team," the Web sites said. "Mission trips to the Asian region by many (Liberty University) students will follow in the months, and perhaps years, to come."
But Dr. Eddie Pate, professor and leader of Liberty's tsunami aid effort, said he did not plan to take "any materials or pass anything out." He said the team is going to South Asia to work with local Christian groups that are distributing food and medicine, and helping small businesses restart.
Falwell's office declined comment. The evangelist sparked controversy in 2002 when he called Muslims' prophet Muhammad a "terrorist" during a television interview.
"This is not the first time we hear about this kind of proselytism," Hooper said. "This has a negative impact, first, on interfaith relations, and second, on the trust and work of legitimate institutions working there."
Hooper said missionaries acting as relief groups could hurt rather than help these vulnerable societies.
"It would make work for legitimate institutions more difficult. It also harms America's image, which is already pretty tarnished in the rest of the world."
The White House had no immediate comment.
Earlier this week, reports that the missionary group WorldHelp planned to airlift 300 tsunami orphans from the Muslim province of Banda Aceh to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, to raise them in a Christian children's home, caused a stir among Muslims. The group has dropped its plans, according to media reports.
WorldHelp officials were not immediately available for comment.
The tsunami has killed about 226,000 across Asia.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
FLOW OF CHRISTIAN AID SHOWS SHIFTING POWER OF THE PULPIT
BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press, 1/21/05
DATELINE: LADONG, Indonesia - The Americans in matching T-shirts were
greeted as heroes when they arrived one afternoon with clean water and
medical care. But how the help got here was something the tsunami
survivors could scarcely comprehend.
The forces of faith, fund-raising and globe-trotting volunteerism have
opened a stream of private Christian aid to one of the most religiously
conservative corners of Muslim Indonesia.
From the volunteers in a Ladong palm grove to aid provided by
Samaritan's Purse, a group run by the son of evangelist Billy Graham, the
initiatives show the power of church congregations to gather donations when
tragedy
strikes.
It also highlights the rising aspirations among a new style of
Christian relief leagues mostly linked to evangelists and activists in the
United
States…
Some of the conservative Christian leaders who have outraged Muslims
also have mounted aid campaigns to Indonesia.
Evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of veteran preacher Billy Graham,
called Islam "a very evil and wicked religion" following the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks. His Samaritan's Purse relief organization sent a 747
cargo
jet with medical and humanitarian supplies as part of a $10 million aid
effort. The younger Graham toured battered coastal towns in Sri Lanka
and Indonesia this week.
A team from evangelist Jerry Falwell's Liberty University plans to
travel to regions hit by the tsunami to bring supplies and "thousands of
Gospel tracts in the language of the people," according to an announcement. In
2002, Falwell called the Prophet Mohammad a "terrorist" but later
apologized.
Smaller Christian groups linked to evangelical churches also have
joined the flow of tsunami help.
"Just when our nation's image in the Islamic world was improving as a
result of the outpouring of American aid in the tsunami disaster area,
we hear from those who would exploit the tragedy to advance their own
extremist agenda," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council
on
In a January 12 "Falwell Confidential" e-mail obtained by CAIR,
Virginia-based Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell makes a plea
for
donations to support relief work in "India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
Indonesia." The e-mail states that "in this heavily Muslim part of the
world, millions have never even heard of Jesus Christ."
(NOTE: Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet of God. The Quran, Islam's
revealed text, states: "Behold! The angels said: 'O Mary! God giveth
thee
glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son
of
Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in (the company
of)those nearest to God.'" [3:45])
According to the e-mail, Liberty University's "Director of
International
Crusades" will head a team sent to the region to distribute relief
supplies. "In addition we will be presenting the Gospel to tens of
thousands of persons through distribution of Gospel tracts written in
the
native languages of the area…Our ultimate purpose for this first
mission is
to set the stage for many other missions trips to this Asian region by
hundreds of Liberty students in the months to come," said the e-mail.
(In 2002, Falwell sparked international controversy when he called the
Prophet Muhammad a "terrorist" on the CBS program "60 Minutes.")
"Just when our nation's image in the Islamic world was improving as a
result of the outpouring of American aid in the tsunami disaster area,
we
hear from those who would exploit the tragedy to advance their own
extremist agenda," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. "It is
inappropriate and immoral for any religious group, whether Christian,
Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist, to use badly-needed humanitarian relief as
cover for conversion efforts."
Awad said the Bush administration and mainstream Christians need to
speak
out on this issue to maintain the credibility of American humanitarian
groups that do not misuse the access they are granted to vulnerable
populations.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that another Virginia
missionary
group had airlifted 300 Muslim orphans from the Indonesian province of
Aceh
to Jakarta, where it planned to raise them in a Christian children's
home.
"If we can place them in a Christian children's home, their faith in
Christ
could become the foothold to reach the Aceh people," said the group.
After
an international outcry, the same organization now says it never had
custody of the children.
SEE: "MISSIONARY GROUP BACKS OFF PLAN FOR TSUNAMI CHILDREN"
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6824143/
But in recent weeks, there has been a growing concern that some groups
are
offering more than secular aid, and their primary intention is to share
their religious beliefs and seek converts among the victims, who are
mostly
Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist.
Most of the larger relief agencies, such as Catholic Relief Services
and
the Red Cross, have policies against proselytizing. But others,
particularly those who practice religions that emphasize conversion,
say it
is their duty to share their beliefs...
"I don't like the idea of anyone - Muslims or non-Muslims - taking
advantage of someone in difficult conditions," says Rashid Ahmad,
president
of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sacramento Valley. "They
should preach by their actions, not by their tongues..."
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