Peter Cosgrove, AP
"If you look at the Koran, all the way from the beginning to the end it speaks of evil and violence," Dozier said. "The problem is, I find that most people who are apologetic for Islam are those persons who have not read the Koran." -- Miami Pastor O'Neal Dozier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Rev. O'Neal Dozier has two missions, and he has been outspoken about achieving both: saving souls and helping Republicans.
A personable black pastor and former professional football player from Broward County, he has associated with Gov. Jeb Bush and recently introduced gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist at a meeting with other pastors -- an event at which he said Jesus Christ told him Crist would be the next governor.
But after Dozier called Islam a cult and began fighting a mosque planned for a largely black Pompano Beach neighborhood, Bush's office asked him to resign as a member of a commission that nominates judges for appointment. His views, criticized by Muslims, will mean his political involvement may be less influential, which he sees as a regrettable consequence to his primary mission.
"I need political influence in order to obtain the things that I think that I need to obtain for the Lord, Jesus Christ," he said Tuesday, two days after turning in his resignation. "I would love to be able to maintain that and at the same time win souls for the Lord. But I guess sometimes that's not possible."
And so he offers no apologies and continues to say the Koran is evil.
"My agenda is speaking on behalf of God because I'm a preacher That's my calling," said Dozier, pastor of The Worldwide Christian Center. "I will not back down. I can't. For me to back down wouldn't make me."
Dozier says black men are receptive to Islam and he doesn't want their souls to be lost. He also believes Islam uses the Koran to teach violence. He said black men are angry enough without being taught violence against those who don't share their believes. It could create situations like the terrorist plot to blow up the Sears Tower that the FBI says it discovered in Miami, he said.
"If you look at the Koran, all the way from the beginning to the end it speaks of evil and violence," Dozier said. "The problem is, I find that most people who are apologetic for Islam are those persons who have not read the Koran."
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His attitude is a misunderstanding of Islam, Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"He might take a look at his Bible again and see what Jesus what would do in these circumstances," Hooper said. "I doubt that Jesus, peace be upon him, would seek to increase divisions and hostilities in the society in which he lived. Jesus preached love and respect, not hatred and mistrust."
Bush first appointed Dozier to the judicial nominating committee in 2001. His current term was to end next July.
Crist, the state's attorney general, asked Dozier to introduce him at a pastors' breakfast in Miami in May. Dozier told the group that Jesus came to him in a dream and told him Crist would be the next governor. Crist is facing state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher for the Republican nomination.
The Crist campaign said the candidate doesn't share the pastor's views on Islam.
"Charlie Crist is happy to have his support. Just because someone supports Charlie Crist, it doesn't mean he agrees with their views, it means they agree with his," said campaign spokeswoman Erin Isaac.
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