Quote:Robertson: "[A] holy war between Islam and Christianity" is "going to come"
During a segment on the September 19 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club about Pope Benedict XVI's recent controversial comments about Islam and Al Qaeda's reaction, host Pat Robertson stated: "[W]e understand the leaders of Al Qaeda are calling for a holy war between Islam and Christianity. It's going to come, ladies and gentlemen."
As Media Matters for America noted, Robertson stated on the August 29 edition of The 700 Club that "Osama bin Laden may be one of the true disciples of the teaching of the Quran ... because he's following through literally word-for-word what it says." Robertson added: "Islam is not a religion of peace. No way."
From the September 19 edition of the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club:
ROBERTSON: When somebody gives the clear, historic record and just says, "Let's have a dialogue," that person is set up for death. And now we understand the leaders of Al Qaeda are calling for a holy war between Islam and Christianity. It's going to come, ladies and gentlemen, and I hope that those of you who care about this pope will support him. He's a wonderful man.
media matters
The entire concept of a 'holy war' is a complete oxymoron.
Unfortunately, this is precisely the kind of 'killing in the name of God' rhetoric against which Kofi Annan warned the world in his farewell speech at the UN.
Throughout history, religion has always cloaked national military and economic ambitions with the aura of respectibility.
And if you've never read Mark Twain's "War Prayer", this might not be too bad a time to take a look at it.