NWV News - Obama's "Religion Czar" Compares Evangelicals to Islamic Terrorists

OBAMA'S "RELIGIOUS CZAR" COMPARES EVANGELICALS TO ISLAMIC TERRORISTS

By NWV News writer Jim Kouri
Posted 1:00 AM Eastern
June 6, 2011
© 2011 NewsWithViews.com

One of the saddest moments for conservative Christians was when U.S. News & World Reports chose Eboo Patel as one of "America's Best Leaders" in 2009.

President Barack Obama's "religion czar" and spiritual adviser has likened evangelical Christians to radical Islamists such as al-Qaeda. He has also been heard comparing Rev. Pat Robertson of the Christian Broadcasting Network to Osama bin Laden.

Obama's advisor, Eboo Patel, is a Muslim who is described by the White House as a moderate. However, Patel is known for making derogatory statements about Bible-reading Christians and Talmud-observing Jews.

In 2010, when Obama named Patel to his Advisory Council on Faith-Based Initiatives, he immediately drew a line in the sand, according to political strategist Mike Baker. For example, Patel discussed Christian "totalitarians" in the United States and Jewish "totalitarians" in Israel, according to Baker.

Obama met Patel when they both lived and worked in Chicago. Patel was well-known locally as a Muslim activist and a friend to Rashid Khalid, a Palestinian historian of the Middle East who left Chicago to become the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York City.

On one occasion, according to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Patel stated in a speech:

"The problem is that we live in a time when the Muslim totalitarians are dominating. Why? Because they are building powerful institutions that propagate their interpretation of Islam – just as the Christian totalitarians in America have powerful institutions; and the Jewish totalitarians in Israel have powerful institutions; and the Hindu totalitarians in India have powerful institutions."

"What do I mean by institutions?" asked Patel. "Lobbying groups that pass policies, political organizations that get people elected, television and radio and magazines and publishing houses which articulate ideas, schools and universities, youth organizations and women's groups, bodies which raise and distribute money."

Surprisingly, Patel then stated, "Al-Qaeda is a network of institutions. Schools and mosques which teach 8-year-olds a certain ideology; organizations which lead them to Afghanistan; training camps which make them soldiers; manuals which offer advice on the prayers to whisper while engaging in violence. The religious identity -- which is to say, the ways of being, believing and belonging in relation with the transcendent -- of too many young Muslims is being shaped by these institutions."

"Religious totalitarianism is not just the belief that one religion is right," added Patel, "but also that there is only one correct interpretation of that religion and everyone should practice it or else."

"Patel failed to explain that so-called Muslim totalitarians, like al-Qaeda, use terrorism to spread their belief system," said Baker.

"When was the last time you saw Christians proselytizing with guns and bombs?" Baker asks.

Aside from his attacks on Christians and Jews, Patel often refers to the "myths" of America –- describing them as beliefs that the country is "a land of freedom and equality and justice."

"It's obvious Patel has a problem with anyone who claims the United States, its Constitution and laws is based on Judeo-Christian principles.

Patel is an associate of Weather Underground terrorist Bill Ayers and like Obama worked with Ayers, who served as a bomb maker for the Marxist group that created havoc in the 1970s.

While many Americans question President Obama's religious beliefs, he has a history of gravitating to the most extreme elements of Christianity or Islam.

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For example, his pastor for 20 years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, believed a moving sermon highlighted the words, "God damn, America! God damn, America!"

Wright's idea of Christianity was a mixture of social justice (the welfare state), race-based theology and bit of Karl Marx, according to several observers including nationally-syndicated talk show host Laurie Roth.

One of the saddest moments for conservative Christians was when U.S. News & World Reports chose Patel as one of "America's Best Leaders" in 2009.