OPINION:
In a recent episode of his podcast, titled “Origins of Christian Zionism, How It Corrupted American Christianity and Why It’s Finally Collapsing,” Tucker Carlson featured J.D. Hall as his guest and expert. In fact, Mr. Carlson introduced Mr. Hall by describing him as “a leading voice on issues of faith, culture, and free speech [as well as someone] known for his unapologetic defense of biblical orthodoxy and criticism of institutional corruption within the church.”
Aside from Mr. Carlson’s effusive praise of Mr. Hall as the consummate “theologian,” what more should we know of him? Who exactly is he?
Well, in short, Mr. Hall is a defrocked Baptist minister who has been accused of drug addiction, domestic violence, assault with a weapon, and embezzlement of church funds. In addition to all this, Mr. Hall has been cited for false claims in his writing and speaking, and he holds no terminal degrees, let alone in theology.
So, why in the world would Mr. Carlson feature such an academically unqualified and morally disreputable man on his show?
The answer seems quite simple. Mr. Carlson clearly wanted to continue grinding his ax against the Jews and pro-Israel Christians while at the same time elevating Islam as being better than both.
Here’s the proof.
While peddling his worn-out and biblically discredited arguments for “replacement theology,” J.D. Hall dove-tailed into a peculiar diatribe of praising Muslims for being “very kind” to Christianity.
Very kind to Christians? What in the world is Mr. Hall talking about?
Anyone with a fifth-grade education should know that Islam’s conquest of Christendom was anything but “kind” and that arguing otherwise is just astoundingly dumb. Here are just a few examples to prove the point.
First, Mr. Hall specifically claims that Islam has never imposed a tax on churches. This is not true. Surah 9:29 in the Qur’an specifically mandates that a poll tax called the “jizya” be imposed on all Christians living in a Muslim country. During the Ottoman Empire, for example, all non-Muslims across Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and the Middle East were required to pay this tax while standing before a seated overlord with their heads bowed. This was a sign of submission and humiliation.
In addition, a tax, called the kharaj, was imposed on all private property held by Christians. This was a burden often so overwhelming that it led to foreclosure, with the Christian’s property being confiscated and redistributed to Muslims as a result. Mr. Hall’s claim of no taxes on “the Church” is so bewildering that one must wonder if he is a paid apologist for the Muslim faith.
Second, there is the doctrine of “dhimmitude,” which declares all Christians are legally and socially inferior to all Muslims. In brief, dhimmitude lays out strict conditions whereby followers of Christ are only permitted to live in a Muslim country if they submit to a list of humiliating conditions, such as being forbidden from repairing their churches, ringing church bells, displaying crosses, and being required to wear distinctive clothing to signify their disparaged status. This, apparently, is the kind of Muslim behavior that J.D. Hall and Tucker Carlson want you to believe is “very kind.”
Third, there is the issue of legal inequality of all non-Muslims who live in Muslim countries. Sharia law, for example, makes the testimony of a Christian against a Muslim inadmissible in an Islamic court. Therefore, a Muslim committing a crime against a Christian is rarely, if ever, subject to legal penalty, while a Christian accused of a crime against a Muslim often faces flogging, immediate imprisonment, and even death. How “kind” do Mr. Hall and Mr. Carlson think this is?
Last, but certainly not least, is the century-and-a-half-old genocide and enslavement of Christians across the civilized world. The record of the Ottoman Empire alone shows that Muslims, in addition to butchering millions of Christians by the sword, conscripted untold numbers of Christian boys by removing them from their families and forcibly converting them to Islam. These children were then brainwashed to become “Janissaries” (elite soldiers), or they were assigned as “administrators” of the state. In fact, there were so many of these incidents in the Slavic states alone that it is from this horror show we now derive the word “slave.”
The persecution of Christians by Muslims is well documented. The Hamidian massacres, the Adana massacre, and ultimately the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocides resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of followers of Christ. The near-total eradication of the ancient Christian populations from the “cradle of Christianity” speaks for itself.
Mr. Hall’s claim of Muslim benevolence toward Christians is nonsense, and Mr. Carlson’s platforming of such abhorrent views serves only to betray his antipathy for biblical Christians who, even as we speak, are being butchered at the hands of, you guessed it, Muslims in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world.
Claiming that Muslims have been “very kind” to Christians is nothing but a shameful lie.
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.
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