Update: Evangelical Leaders Denounce Anti-Islamic Remarks

May 7, 2003

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/breaking_news/5808251.htm

On May 7, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "leading evangelical Christians condemned derogatory statements about Islam by the Rev. Franklin Graham and others among their fellow religious conservatives. They also pledged to improve relations with Muslims... The evangelicals meeting Wednesday said the derisive comments endangered Christian missionaries in the Muslim world, strained already tense interfaith relations and fed the perception in the Mideast and beyond that the war on terrorism is a Christian crusade against Islam... Hodan Hassan, a spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is among Graham's harshest critics, said she was encouraged by Wednesday's meeting. About 50 representatives of evangelical churches, schools and mission groups attended."