If a Christian Led a Mass Murder, Obama Would Be Calling It Out
During “Varney & Co.” on FOX Business Channel on Wednesday, Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas was asked to weigh in on President Obama’s defense of Muslims following the Orlando attack.
“There’s no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam.’ It’s a political talking point; it’s not a strategy,” Obama said during a speech earlier in the day. “The reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism.
“Groups like ISIL and al-Qaida want to make this war a war between Islam and America, or between Islam and the West. They want to claim that they are the true leaders of over a billion Muslims around the world who reject their crazy notions.
“They want us to validate them by implying that they speak for those billion-plus people; that they speak for Islam. That’s their propaganda. That’s how they recruit. And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion—then we’re doing the terrorists’ work for them.”
Earlier in his program, Varney compared comments Obama has made about Christianity and Islam. Turning to Jeffress for his input, the host said his conclusion, based on what he’s seen from the president, is that he is “tilted toward Islam.”
“Well, you see this over and over again Stuart,” Jeffress replied. “After a major terrorist attack, the president assumes his favorite role of defender-in-chief of Islam rather than commander-in-chief.
“Look, it’s important for this president to acknowledge that whether we’re talking about Paris, Brussels, San Bernardino or now Orlando, these attacks were not committed by militant Methodists. They were committed by militant Muslims. This is not racism; that’s realism, and it’s realism this president better start acknowledging.”
Varney asked Jeffress if he “had any sympathy” for the president’s opinion that calling out Islam for its connection to terrorism would actually hurt the effort to stop Islamist attacks in the U.S. Before expounding on his view, the pastor said simply, “Not at all.”
“You can never defeat an enemy you’re unwilling to identify,” he added. “We all acknowledge that most Muslims are peace-loving. The most conservative estimate is that only 5 percent of Muslims have embraced radical Islam, but out of 1.5 billion Muslims, that’s 75 million Muslim who embrace radical Islam. We better take note of that.
“The fact is you do not give the same surveillance to an 89-year-old Episcopalian grandmother as you do a 25-year-old male Muslim who’s emigrated from Afghanistan. We need to be smart about this.”
Varney then said he thought it seemed Jeffress was seeking a “more muscular defense” of Christianity.
“I absolutely do,” Jeffress said. “If this had been a conservative Christian who had committed this horrendous act, that is all Barack Obama would be talking about. About how Christians need to rethink their faith and reform their views, but he’s silent about that when it comes to radical Islam.”
