Shahram Hadian and Bill French, who writes under the pen name Bill Warner, will appear in cities in Greater Minnesota during August and September, demonstrating that the anti-Muslim speaking circuit described by the Star Tribune's Matt McKinney in Anti-Muslim speaking circuit runs through rural Minnesota and Minnesota Public Radio's (MPR) John Enger in Anti-Islam speakers urge rural MN crowds to prepare for Muslim attack remains active.
Shahram Hadian
Hadrian's schedule of speaking engagements is listening on the photo at the top of this post, including events in Bagley (August 10); Little Falls (August 11); Browerville (September 12); Freeport (September 13) and St. Cloud (September 14).
A resident of Everett, WA, whose central ethos is his conversion from Islam to Christianity, Hadian spreads a message described in the Southern Poverty Law Center Hate Watch article, Shahram Hadian: An ex-Muslim Preaching an Anti-Muslim Message:
Preaching about the “evils of Islam” and the need for evangelical Christians to step up and defend the Constitution, their beliefs and way of life appears to be a burgeoning business opportunity.
Evidence of that apparent trend showed up over the weekend when Shahram Hadian, a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, spoke to a group of about 50 people at Covenant Church in Spokane, Wash. It was the second weekend in a row for his anti-Islam roadshow.
Besides a “love offering” taken after his three-hour speech, Hadian was selling an array of anti-Islam DVD videos, books and pamphlets. He also operates “TIL Project Ministries,” which is based around anti-Islam, anti-LGBT, anti-abortion, anti-media and other far-right ideologies.
Hadian’s message appears modeled after that of notorious Islamophobes Pamela Geller and Geert Wilders, both of whom he mentioned in his remarks.
In late February, Hadian spoke to what was described as a sold-out crowd of evangelical pastors, Bible-study leaders and others who gathered at a “Steeling Your Mind” confab at Spokane’s historic Davenport Hotel. That event was sponsored by “Compass International,” which describes itself as a “religious organization” founded by Bill Perkins. When not hosting such gatherings, Compass International sells tickets for tours to Italy and Israel.
Besides supporting himself with speaking tours throughout the United States, Hadian also has delivered his anti-Islam message to various political leaders, including Republican members of the Idaho Legislature. The former Muslim also claims he has provided training about the dangers of Islam to law enforcement officers.
His multi-media presentation included reported polling data from the Center for Security Policy, a hate group that serves as a prominent think tank for the anti-Muslim movement founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney Jr., a former Reagan administration defense official. Hadian also has been affiliated with ACT for America, largest grassroots anti-Muslim group in America, claiming 280,000 members and over 1,000 chapters.
Dean Lynch, president of the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force, said Hadian appears to be part of a campaign to demonize Islam and incite “fear within the Muslim community and the community at large.” . . .
According to Ballotpedia, Hadrian ran for Governor of Washington state in 2012, coming in third in the blanket primary with 3.3 percent of the vote.
Hadian has created event promotions for the speaking engagements. Here's the one for Chrislam Exposed- The Seductive Lie of a Common God in Browerville on Thursday. Like all of the events, this one seems like a canned speech delivered elsewhere around the country.
Bill French, pen name Bill Warner
Sources tell Bluestem Prairie that Bill French, who writes under the pen name of Bill Warner, will appear in Rochester MN on September 2, at 6:30 p.m. They didn't know the venue and had no information about sponsors.
In The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle, a 2011 article published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, we read:
BILL FRENCH
ORGANIZATION Heads the for-profit Center for the Study of Political Islam in Nashville.CREDENTIALS Former Tennessee State University physics professor; author of Sharia Law for Non-Muslims (2010; under the pen name Bill Warner).
SUMMARY French has no formal training or background in law, Islam or Shariah law — which in any case is not an established legal code, as the book title implies, but a fluid concept subject to a wide range of interpretations and applications. He garnered attention recently by leading the opposition to a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
IN HIS OWN WORDS "The two driving forces of our civilization are the Golden Rule and critical thought. … There is no Golden Rule in Islam. ... There is not really even a Ten Commandments."
—Quoted in The [Blount County, Tenn.] Daily Times, March 4, 2011"This offends Allah. You offend Allah."
— Quoted in The Tennesseean, Oct. 24, 2010, speaking to opponents of the Murfreesboro mosque while pointing to an American flag
Much of what is written about French appears to be based in the 2010 Tennessean article, Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear.
CAIR's Islamophobia website's listing for the Center for the Study of Political Islam notes:
The Center for the Study of Political Islam is a think tank founded by Bill French, who also goes by the alias Bill Warner. The think tank’s mission is “to educate the world about political Islam, its founder Mohammed, his political doctrine and his god, Allah.”
French has said, “Let me be clear: I do hate Islam." He has also stated, "I hate a doctrine that is found in the Quran, Allah, the Seerah, Mohammed’s biography, the Hadith, his traditions. I hate the Islam that is found in that."
We'll update this post as we learn more. As always, Bluestem recommends that those who attend these events remain civil, however much one objects to the content. Education and community--light--is the best way to overcome darkness, as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. implied. That's an important lesson this week in Minnesota.
Photo: Via Shahram Hadian's Facebook page.
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