Incitement Watch: ‘Quran Teaches Violence’

ACTION REQUESTED: SEND POLITE COMMENTS TO: comments@foxnews.com, hannity@foxnews.com,Colmes@foxnews.com

COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org

TV Host Quits Over Muslim Comments Fox News: Hannity & Colmes, 1/1/0/06http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,134671,00.html

COLMES: Welcome back to "Hannity & Colmes." I'm Alan Colmes.

Still to come, some New Orleans residents are fighting to keep the city from bulldozing their homes. But for at least one resident, it's already too late. We'll hear from the homeowner who had the city raze his home without his consent.

Bur first, best selling Christian author and television personality Hal Lindsey will not be returning to his television show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. The reason, he claims, is that the network attempted to muzzle his opinions on radical Islam.

The network said they couldn't recall anything specific from Lindsey's program that were anti-Arab but had more of a concern with how Muslims were portrayed, saying his messages were, quote, "too pro-Israel and too anti- Muslim."

Hal Lindsey joins us now.

Mr. Lindsey, thank you very much for being with us. What happened? They said you were preempted because you placed Arabs in a negative light. Is that a fair description?

HAL LINDSEY, CHRISTIAN AUTHOR: Yes, that's it. I wrote a book back in 2002 called "The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad." And in this, I, you know, after 9/11, I really studied Islam, studied the Koran, studied what they're teaching, and especially why there was a difference between the moderate Muslims and those who are radical.

And so, I saw that there was a tremendous danger facing this country that many Americans really didn't seem to be seeing. So, I started warning that radical Islam was at war with the United States, and that the threat was as great as any enemy we'd ever faced.

COLMES: Is the issue here that you said, for example, in my radio show last week, which you appreciate, you said that you believe that the true practitioner of Islam, real Islam, are the radicals and the moderates aren't practicing real Islam. So actual Islam is a radical religion in your view?

LINDSEY: Yes. It is. And you know, it's kind of like most Christians don't read the Bible very much. I believe most Muslims don't read the Koran very much.

COLMES: You're calling it a violent religion?

LINDSEY: Yes. Well, that's -- that's why most Muslims are not radical. But when someone begins to really study the Koran, and they begin to read the 109 versus that call for violence and war, they become very, very different. They become radical. They feel that they need to convert people by force.

COLMES: OK. I understand why they may be upset with you for your taking an entire religion; you're saying it's a violent religion. You're saying the religion itself is radical. I can understand why some Christians like your former employers might be saying, you know, "That's not the message that we, as Christians, want to put out there. We're preaching peace, love and understanding. We don't like that view that you just expressed," they say.

LINDSEY: Yes, I can understand that. And you know, Paul Crouch and I are very good friends. He's the founder of TBN. And you know, I wish him no ill will. We're still friends.

HANNITY: Hey, Hal.

LINDSEY: But we do differ on the best way to present the gospel and - - and what's really important.

HANNITY: Hal, it's Sean Hannity. Thanks for being on the program.

LINDSEY: Hi, Sean.

HANNITY: I want to make sure we're clear here.

LINDSEY: Yes.

HANNITY: Because Alan is saying, and you're answering the question that you're saying Islam is this way. Are you making a distinction between radical Islam and those that practice mainstream Islam? Or does your study of the Koran tell you something else? Is that what you're saying? I'm trying to understand. I want to understand completely.

LINDSEY: Yes, OK. I believe that I make a very careful distinction between radical Islam and between those that -- what we'd call moderate. They're not interested in fighting a jihad. They're not interested in overthrowing a country and bringing it under the submission to Islam.

But something else that I learned, and what I am teaching, is that when someone becomes devout and they begin to get into the Koran, and they begin to study what it really teaches, they become -- they become what we'd call a fundamentalist or a radical.

Because the Koran itself, and the Hadith, teaches violence, and there are 109 versus that, sometimes called war verses, that Mohammed wrote while he was in Medina and when he had an army behind him. He got much, much more aggressive after that.

HANNITY: Right.

LINDSEY: And these are the -- these are the verses that the radicals begin to take seriously, and they begin to want to overthrow westernization.

HANNITY: All right. Let me ask you this about the controversy with TBN. First of all, do you think there's any chance of reconciliation? And there seems to be some dispute as to what happened. Because originally, they denied there was any connection to your comments. And they said there was a connections to the comments. They dropped you, but then you dropped them.

What actually happened with TBN? And do you think you'll reconcile?

LINDSEY: Well, you know, like I say, I'm good friends with Paul Crouch. Paul Crouch was sick most of the time all of this was going on. The one who was in charge of programming and the one who passed down this edict that she wanted to see all of my scripts before any show would be shown. She wanted to censor them. She said I was knocking -- I was bashing Arabs, I was making all Arabs look bad, I was -- that I wasn't being fair with the Muslims and so forth. And so, she -- she actually took me off the show.

HANNITY: But did you talk to Paul about it? I mean, you said he was sick. Have you talked to him about it?

LINDSEY: Yes, I talked to him yesterday. And there were some things that he didn't really know about this. And at least I -- at least I gathered that he didn't.

But, what -- what I've come out with all of this, is that I feel like, you know -- my specialty is talking about what the ancient Hebrew prophets predicted would all come together just before the return of Christ. And I believe that, you know, Islam is a big part of those things. That's where I try to focus.

COLMES: We -- we thank you for coming on tonight. Best wishes. Thank you very much.

- END -