American Family Association radio host and Fox News contributor Sandy Rios spoke today with William Murray of the Religious Freedom Coalition and blamed the current turmoil in the Middle East on both Islam and the Obama administration. Rios blasted Obama supporters for claiming that George W. Bush left him an economic crisis while refusing to admit that Bush “left them peace, he left them peace for ten years,” and now “we are reaping the bitter fruits of chaos not only in the Middle East but in the world at large because we have not been dealing with them with strength” like Bush did.
Rios: The problem with Islam, and we know this Bill, I would like to say, in fact I was going to write this article and I’ll just spill the beans on the air and that is they keep talking about what George Bush left this president and they’re talking about the horrible economy and what a mess he left and they haven’t been able to even turn it around in four years because it’s horrendous. But I’ll tell you what else he left them; he left them peace, he left them peace for ten years. And now that’s going ragged because we have been operating under Obama’s policies for the last four years and we are reaping the bitter fruits of chaos not only in the Middle East but in the world at large because we have not been dealing with them with strength.
Murray later agreed with the charge that Islam is not a religion, but as Rios floated, a “dangerous, fascist political system.” Ironically, the Religious Right activists said that since some Muslims believe that Islam is a political ideology, therefore Islam should not be considered a religion.
Rios: There are some people who are saying very strongly that Islam should no longer be considered a religion, that that is causing the confusion, it should characterized as a political system, a dangerous, fascist political system and not a religion. How would we make that distinction and do you agree?
Murray: It is a socio-political system; there is absolutely no doubt about that. If something comes along and says it is a religion but it has to control all aspects of government, fi something controls all aspects of government it simply is not a religion. The problem that we have in the West and it’s a matter of definition, and it comes out of early Christian persecution in the early Roman Empire, is that anybody that says they are anything automatically is.
