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Another Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Featuring an Anti-Muslim/Anti-Obama Conspiracy Theorist as Speaker
The Independence, Missouri prayer breakfast featured Saleem as scheduled, despite numerous pleas from the community for Mayor Don Reimal to look at Saleem's history of virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric and his very questionable biography. I personally sent the mayor's office summaries and links to audio, including Saleem's claim that President Obama "wants to bring about Shariah law." Saleem is one of a trio of self-proclaimed ex-terrorists traveling the country and marketing stories of their conversion to Christianity and their terrorism expertise, despite repeated debunking of their spectacular narratives. Boykin, on the other hand, has an impressive resume including Commander of U.S. Army Special Forces and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. His post-military career has included the end time prophecy speaking circuit and both religious and secular speaking engagements on the dangers of an Islamic/Marxist takeover of America. Boykin claims that there can be no interfaith dialogue between Muslims and Christians as reported by Right Wing Watch. On the same webpage there is an Oak Initiative video of Boykin, Rick Joyner, Tony Perkins, and Frank Turek stressing the importance of their involvement in politics. Further down the page is an audio clip from James Dobson's radio program in which Boykin claims that Islam is not a religion and does not deserve protection under the First Amendment. Boykin has also claimed that George Soros and the Council on Foreign Relations intentionally collapsed the economy, a conspiracy theory about a Marxist cabal and one-world government that is popular among end times prophecy speakers. Boykin believes that the end times are imminent and as they approach Christians are "under persecution today in America at an unprecedented level." Saleem and Boykin were the featured speakers in November at an event titled "The Islamization of America" sponsored by a Texas affiliate of the Oak Initiative. The Oak Initiative was founded in 2009 by New Apostolic leaders Rick Joyner and Samuel Rodriguez and others, and has coordinated with Frank Gaffney's Center for Security Policy in promoting anti-Sharia laws to state legislatures. Richard Bartholomew at Bartholomew's Notes points out that previous Ocean City prayer breakfast speakers have included Maury Davis, a convicted murderer who almost decapitated his middle-aged victim. The crime took place in Texas, but Davis served less than nine years. Bartholomew explains, "Thanks to an insanity plea and a juror who believes in demonic possession he was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder." Davis now leads Cornerstone, an Assemblies of God mega-church in Madison, Tennessee. Davis's church hosted an anti-Shariah conference on 11/11/11 following the cancellation of the event contract with a Nashville. The conference was sponsored by the Sharia Awareness Action Network with advertised speakers including Brigitte Gabriel, David Yerushalmi, Frank Gaffney, and Matthew Staver. The Ocean City Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Director Bruce Spangler states in publicity for the event that Boykin is "an expert on Islamic history" and "has an exciting testimony that you will not want to miss." An article in the The Dispatch closes with this quote from Spangler,
"This country was founded on biblical values and we are getting away from that," Spangler said. "People often misquote the first amendment by saying its 'freedom from religion,' and not 'freedom of religion.' We are slowly killing the 'freedom of religion.'" Apparently Spangler and the mayor's office believe that freedom of religion includes having publicly sponsored events that feature speakers who literally demonize other Americans and would eradicate their rights to practice their religion. Also see: PFAW has produced a report titled http://www.pfaw.org/rww-in-focus/the-right-wing-playbook-anti-mus lim-extremism The Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism that explains how irrational fears of the Islamization of America are being fueled and exploited in the Right's war on religious diversity, gays, and immigrants. More articles on Kamal Saleem, Jerry Boykin, TheCall Detroit, and the Oak Initiative TheCall Detroit: A Window into 2012 Religio-Political Strategies for Minority Outreach Kamal Saleem in Oak Initiative/Transformation Michigan Conference Call: Obama Wants Shariah Law Phony Ex-terrorist Kamal Saleem in Reconciliation Ceremony at TheCall Detroit Audio and Video Documenting the Demonization of Others in TheCall Detroit Preparations
Jesus Carpet Bomb My Heart: An Undercover Muslim in Detroit Samuel Rodriguez and the Oak Initiative - Marketing Religious Supremacism as Social Justice
Another Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Featuring an Anti-Muslim/Anti-Obama Conspiracy Theorist as Speaker | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
Another Mayor's Prayer Breakfast Featuring an Anti-Muslim/Anti-Obama Conspiracy Theorist as Speaker | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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