Shoddy Reporting on the Religion of Islam by ABC News, Part 7

I came across an excellent critique of the ABC News 20/20 program, “Islam: Questionsand Answers.” That program originally was broadcast a year or so ago. A recent YouTube exposé points out 20 errors in the hour long supposed ‘news’ program. This is a seventh of a series of posts that will delve into the various errors made by Diane Sawyer, Bill Weir, and guests on this program. I am not quite sure whether this was just a case of very bad or sloppy reporting, or merely a succumbing to political correctness, or propagating outright lies about the so-called ‘religion’ of peace.

Here is the video, “Whitewashing Islam – 20 Errors on 20/20 (ABC News).” Following the video is a transcript of the next two errors found in the ‘news’ production.
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Error #8

[Transcription below for above video beginning at 08:58 on the video] 

Now ABC’s Bill Weir gets in the act. The two quotes below are from the 20/20 program and not from the Whitewash video.

[“…Whether the Qur’an urges kindness in the first half (of the Qur’an)… and violent jihad in the second… Scholars agree that Mohammed’s words turn more militant later in his life because at that point in history his tribe was in a bloody war.”]

[Eliza Griswald, author of “The Tenth Parallel,”  a guest of the 20/20 program at this point adds, “He’s (Mohammed) under siege by his own people, he becomes a warrior, a statesman, and a religious leader all at once.”]

Weir asks Griswald the following,

“Is it true though that those words (recorded in the second half of the Qur’an, then supersede what he said earlier (recorded in the first half of the Qur’an)?”

Griswald replies,

“Not at all.” [in the 20/20 program itself she also says, “In fact this is one of the hottest debates inside of Islam today…”]

David Wood paints a very different picture of what is termed abrogation’ saying, “In Surah 2:106 and Surah 16:101 the Qur’an says that later teachings abrogate earlier teachings…

“Mohammed said that later teachings abrogate earlier teaching…

“All classical Muslim scholars said that later teaching abrogate earlier teaching.

"Who challenges the doctrine of abrogation? ABC News! So there you go, 14 centuries of Muslim scholarship and reality, itself get tossed out the window.”

Error #9

[Transcription below for above video beginning at 09:34 on the video] 

ABC’s Bill Weir purports,

“While a fundamentalist Muslim follow Mohammed’s instructions to fight the infidels, moderate scholars agree the infidels he was talking about were specific enemies that have been dead for 1300 years.”

David Wood exclaims, “Wow! Mohammed’s violent teachings only apply to a few enemies for a certain period of time. Of course Mohammed didn’t interpret it that way. The rightly guided Caliphs didn’t interpret it that way. Mohammed’s companions didn’t interpret it that way. Centuries of Muslim leaders and scholars didn’t interpret it that way.

“But none of that matters, because world-renown Qur’an scholar and theologian, Bill Weir, tells us that when the Qur’an says to Muslims fight those who believe not in Allah, it doesn’t really mean what it says. Maybe we can get Bill to write his own commentary. He could explain why 14 centuries of Muslims didn’t understand the Qur’an at all."

The so-called ABC News journalists are hell-bent on presenting a false picture of Islam. They are succeeding in propagandizing America as to an unreal version of Islam. They quote sources that are diametrically opposed by the historic record. They do this much like the modern historians have revised the influence of Christianity out of the founding of our nation. They are intent on purging the Judeo-Christian God and elevating false gods or no God in our culture. The 20/20 program is a prime example of media malpractice and manipulation of the masses.