"Demonic Islam," dominionism and Friday's rally in Detroit

Update: At noon on Wednesday, Nov. 9, a number of local faith leaders will gather at Grand Circus Park for a press conference countering Friday’s “The Call: Detroit” rally. According to a press release from the group, the speakers are to “announce an alternative event for people of faith to pray for Detroit in an inclusive, non-political way. “Leaders from Detroit’s Christian and Muslim communities have expressed concern about ‘The Call: Detroit,’ whose leaders frequently demonize Islam and promote ‘dominionist’ theology, which advocates a takeover of government, media and business by conservative Christians.” Announced for Wednesday’s press conference are Rev. Charles Williams II, Pastor, Historic King Solomon Baptist Church; Rev. D. Alexander Bullock, Pastor, Greater St. Matthews Baptist Church; Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellerman, Pastor, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church; and Imam Dawud Walid, Executive Director, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Michigan.

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Back in August on this blog, we wrote about the Christian dominionism movement and plans for a major rally in Detroit on 11-11-11 aimed at converting Muslims to Christianity and advancing the movement's vision of what Christianity and America should be. We were wrong in our prediction that you'd be hearing a lot more about the movement. At least, we've been wrong so far, but that's likely to change over the next couple of days as the rally nears, 24-hours of prayer and fasting at Ford Field to bring light to, in the words of the Rev. Lou Engle:

The place where they say there is no hope - a microcosm of our national crisis - economic collapse, racial tension, the rising tide of the Islamic movement, and the shedding of our children's innocent blood on the streets and yet unborn - God has chosen as His staging ground for healing and prayer. We are daring to believe that Detroit's desperation can produce a prayer that can change a nation. [MT emphasis added]

Here's a summary of what's ahead in the eyes of the group Right Wing Watch with a video compilation of excerpts  from Engle and other movement leaders on matters including the "demonic" nature of Islam. Last August, we pointed readers to an interview on Terry Gross' Fresh Air with Rachel Tabachnick, who researches the political impact of the religious right. That was where we first heard about the Detroit plans. Here's a link to a subsequent Fresh Air interview with the Rev. C. Peter Wagner, one of the leaders of this New Apostolic Reformation, in which he's asked about the stance that non-Christians are demonic:

Well, it means they're not part of the kingdom of heaven. It means they're part of the kingdom of darkness. An apostle, a friend of mine in Nepal, once told me that every Christian believer in Nepal that he knows of has been delivered from demons. That their former Hindu religion had implanted, or the demons had gained access, and that in order to become Christian believers, the demons had to be cast out. Of course, we have many examples in the Bible of the same thing.