Americans of Conscience Urge Cancellation of Jihadist Day at the National Cathedral

(Washington, D.C.):  On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the start of one of history’s most horrific acts of genocide, a group of prominent figures in the religious, national security and human rights communities have written a letter to the leadership of Washington’s National Cathedral.  They urged the Cathedral not to allow a group of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations to utilize its house of worship on November 14th, 2014 for a prayer service that will inevitably – given the nature of the sponsors, their traditional service and the occasion – be a highly symbolic demonstration of Islamic supremacism.

The group’s letter notes:

November 14th, 2014, will be the 100th anniversary of the last sitting Caliph of the Ottoman Empire’s call for jihad against non-believers. The call for violent jihad against non-believers directly resulted in a genocide against the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek residents of Turkey. And while for most westerners the November 14th Jihad declaration is little more than a footnote in the annals of World War I, for Islamic supremacists like those associated with Muslim Brotherhood, it is a date pregnant with meaning. To permit such a public display, and permit such groups to occupy the National Cathedral of the United States on this date represents an affront to the memories of those who were killed as a result of this genocide, and an affront to those Christians across the Middle East who are currently under threat by those who seek to emulate it.

Among the signatories of the letter, which was organized by the Center for Security Policy, were:

• Lieutenant General William G. Boykin, Former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
• Dr. Ron Crew CH (COL) USAR, (Ret.), Executive Director, Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty
• Pastor Jim Garlow, Senior Pastor, Skyline Church
• Reverend Dan Cummins, Founder, Come Pray with Me
• Pastor Paul Blair, Fairview Baptist Church

The group offered to meet with the leadership of the National Cathedral and to provide additional evidence regarding how the groups involved in the November 14th event have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.  The signatories called to mind that, as proven in federal court, the stated goal of the Brotherhood in America is to “destroy Western civilization from within.”

The letter also notes how the Muslim Brotherhood has “…repeatedly targeted Middle Eastern Christians,” including “bombing places of worship” as well as attacking “fellow Muslims who do not meet the Brotherhood’s strict Shariah standards.” Such atrocities and other acts of violent jihad are not things of the past; they are happening currently.

Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney observed:

The National Cathedral was recently rocked by an unusual earthquake, causing millions of dollars in damage to its exquisite structure.  The act of opening its doors to top members and front groups of the Muslim Brotherhood – an organization that epitomizes and practices the worst of Islam’s intolerant Shariah code – on a day that will always be associated with genocidal jihadism should rock the conscience of every member of the Cathedral’s community.  If this outrageous event is not cancelled, the damage that will assuredly be caused to the reputation of the institution’s leadership and, by association, the Cathedral itself will likely be far more severe and difficult to repair than any caused by the tremor.

The full joint letter is below.

National Cathedral Letter