Christian Evangelist Bill Keller Willing to Die for 'Insulting' Islam?
Internet evangelist Bill Keller, who has been outspoken against religions that he believes go against a biblical worldview, has written a letter to Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, telling him he is ready to stand trial and even face the death penalty in Egypt if charged with attacking Islam.
Keller, who in recent times has made it his mission to warn voters that GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's Mormon faith is radically different from Christianity, has also talked often about the dangers of Islam. He has described Islam as "a 1,400- year-old lie from hell" and claimed that "the prophet Muhammad was a documented pedophile, polygamist, and murderer, who was visited by Satan himself to start this false religion in 600 AD." Keller has also petitioned against the building of a mosque close to Ground Zero in New York City.
"President Morsi, I refuse to be intimidated by your tactics to try and silence those who refuse to bow to the lies of Islam," Keller's letter begins. "Islam has been propagated around the world for 14 centuries through violence, terror, and death. How people have seen Muslims worldwide react with acts of violence and death in recent weeks and over these past years for foolish things like cartoons, movies, and speech they call insulating, are nothing but excuses to protest, riot, and intimidate into silence those who tell the truth about this false religion."
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The evangelist's letter to Morsi, which he shared with The Christian Post, comes in light of the recent turmoil in the Middle East, where Islamists across several nations attacked Western embassies in protest of a U.S.-made private video released on YouTube found to be offensive to Muslims for mocking the prophet Muhammad. Egypt, which is led by the Muslim Brotherhood, is among several countries calling on the U.N. to adopt a global blasphemy law at this week's General Assembly, and has even issued arrest warrants for the makers of the U.S. video.
Keller continues his letter by inviting Morsi to charge him with insulting and publicly attacking Islam for his comments.
"If I am charged, I will be glad to fly to Cairo and stand trial," he writes. "I am well aware the laws in Egypt are different than the free speech laws we have in the United States, but I will be honored to let the world see what Islam is really about, and am not afraid of death since I have the assurance of everlasting life through faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!"
The evangelist's Daily Devotional reaches 2.4 million subscribers worldwide, and his Vote for Jesus website, which was launched in protest of both President Barack Obama and candidate Romney, has almost 800,000 people pledging that come Election Day, they will cast their vote for Jesus rather than either nominee.
In an email to CP, Keller said that he does not see his anti-Islam work conflicting with efforts to witness to Muslims, insisting that evangelical efforts in the Middle East are very different and on a more personal level.
"They have killed most of the Christians in Egypt," he said. "Whatever evangelistic efforts there are in the Muslim world are very personal, relational, as opposed to mass meetings. This is a chance to call these people out and let the world see Islam for what it is, as opposed to the sanitized version of Islam we get through the media."
