National Council of Churches issues a statement on the DVD, “Obsession”
NCC Interfaith Relations Commission Statement on the DVD
“Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”
In recent weeks many Americans have found in their mailboxes and morning papers a DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.” As the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, we are alarmed by the massive distribution of some 28 million copies of this DVD through paid advertisement by the Clarion Fund in more than seventy newspapers. While this film purports to educate and offers, at the outset, a disclaimer that it is not about the majority of peaceful Muslims, we see its content as serving only the aims of distorting truth and misleading viewers, fanning the sparks of mistrust, bigotry, and hatred that undermine the very foundations of a multi-religious democracy.
National Council of Churches Interfaith Relations Commission warns against ‘distorted and misleading’ DVD about Islam
The Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches expressed alarm and protest over the recent mass distribution of 28 million copies of what it termed a “distorted and misleading” DVD entitled: “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.”
The Commission charged that the DVD, distributed primarily in closely contested states in the last weeks of the presidential election campaign, has the effect of “fanning the sparks of mistrust, bigotry and hatred that undermine the very foundations of a multi-religious democracy.”
Pointing out that the National Council of Churches “condemns extremism, terrorism, and religiously motivated violence, as do our Muslim dialogue partners here in the United States and globally,” the Commission lamented that the “Obsession” film suggests only two responses to “radical Islam” — war or appeasement.
“Such a false choice serves only to incite the fear of Islam and aggression against Muslims,” the Commission said.
The statement noted that the National Council of Churches and its member communions are participating in an “unprecedented worldwide exchange” between Christian and Muslim scholars, and is actively seeking other ways of combating “the de-humanizing effects of stereotyping and bigotry.”
The National Council of the Churches of Christ is the nation’s leading ecumenical association, encompassing 35 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican, African-American, and historic Peace churches, with 45 million members in 100,000 local congregations throughout the U.S.A.
