After weeks of making harsh statements about Muslims and handing out controversial cartoon booklets that depict Muslims as terrorists, a South Florida minister said that he is softening his stand.

Rev. O’Neal Dozier had openly criticized Islam, saying that it “teaches evil and hatred.” Much of his commentary on Muslims came after the Pompano Beach City Council voted to allow the Islamic Center of South Florida to erect a larger mosque on undeveloped land on Northwest 16th Avenue in a predominantly black community. Dozier took to the streets to pass out booklet that he said would “educate the public concerning the Islamic fascism.”

Tuesday, Dozier apparently had a change of heart. He released the following statement: “After much soul searching and deliberation concerning my previous statements about radical Islam being ‘a dangerous and evil cult,’ I want to applaud and thank those peace-loving Muslims who share our American values of freedom, tolerance, and human rights.”

Click10.com, 10 October 2006

The Rev. Franklin Graham, a Christian evangelist whose criticism of Islam has frequently outraged Muslims, said Islam teaches its followers to “persecute” others until they convert, with the aim being “total domination.”

In the wake of the 2001 attacks on the United States, Graham outraged Muslims when he said that Islam “is a very evil and wicked religion.” In an interview last March, he told ABC News’ “Nightline” that he had not changed his mind about the faith.

In his latest salvo, Graham told The News & Observer: “It’s the teaching of Islam that is not tolerant of any other faith.”

“It’s world domination. When they dominate an area, they’ll let other belief systems exist, but they’ll persecute them so that (people) convert to Islam and there’s total domination. Once you’re in Islam you can’t get out of it. If you leave Islam you have to be killed,” said Graham.

Associated Press, 9 October 2006