In an apparent bid to stoke further controversy, the Tea Party leader who last week referred to Allah as a “Monkey God” has apologized — but to Hindus, not Muslims. And in an earlier blog post, now removed, he refers to Islam as a “7th Century Death Cult coughed up by a psychotic pedophile.”
Mark Williams, the conservative radio talker and chair of the Tea Party Express yesterday posted an “apology” for the “Monkey God” post he wrote last week:
A few days ago I wrote an article critical of a monument to the 911 hijackers to be built at Ground Zero and scheduled to open on 9/11/11. I can only assume the date is only to emphasize the perverted message of the monument. The only thing sicker is that Americans will not only allow it but that they will defend it.
In the course of the article I described the “god” worshiped by terrorists as “a monkey god”. I was wrong and that was offensive. I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual Monkey God.
Moreover, Hanuman is worshiped as a symbol of perseverance, strength and devotion. He is known as a destroyer of evil and to inspire and liberate. Those are hardly the traits of whatever the Hell (literally) it is that terrorists worship and worthy of my respect and admiration not ridicule.
So, again, to my Hindu friends I offer my sincerest apologies for my horrible lapse and my insensitivity. It was unintentional, inexplicably ignorant and I am ashamed at my offense toward you.
We’ve also found some earlier examples of Williams expressing his feelings about Islam — and they make the Monkey God line look tame.
Last year, in a post that has since been removed, he responded to news of a failed terror attack in New York by writing:
[R]epeat after me: Islam is a 7th Century Death Cult coughed up by a psychotic pedophile and embraced by defective, tail sprouting, tree swinging, semi-human, bipedal primates with no claim to be treated like human beings or even desirable mammals for that matter.
And later that year, in a post titled “Savage Islam,” he wrote:
Muhammad instructs all Muslims to use whatever it takes to murder innocents and die in the process, the more violent the better. Even better than that, use the tools of civilized Man against civilized Man. No matter how tame an adherent to Islam may appear, they are still Muslim and just waiting for allah to provide them with an opportunity.
None of this seems to concern the Republican operatives who founded and run Tea Party Express, for which Williams continues to serve as a frequent spokesman. In response to the “Monkey God” comment, they told TPMmuckraker that it had nothing to do with them because it was written on Williams’s personal blog. We’ll let you know if they feel differently about the “death cult” line.
