Black Minister Makes Troubling Remarks About Islam

July 8, 2006

Source: The Miami Herald

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On July 8, 2006 The Miami Herald reported, "The Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a Broward clergyman who has advised President Bush and is a political appointee of Gov. Jeb Bush, took to the air waves Friday to criticize Islam as a 'cult' religion. The radio appearance by Dozier, who serves on the governor's committee that screens Broward judicial nominees, startled a local Muslim leader, and prompted the governor to immediately distance himself from the statements. Reached later in the day by The Miami Herald, a contrite Dozier said he was 'concerned' his comments could jeopardize his position on Broward's Judicial Nominating Commission. But he did not disavow those comments. 'The Islamic religion in my view is a cult,' Dozier said Friday, when asked to recap the controversial comments he made earlier on The Steve Kane Radio Show on WNN-AM 1470. 'On the show I said that Islam is a dangerous religion.' Dozier was on the program to address efforts by him and other black ministers to block a plan by the Islamic Center of South Florida to build a center in Northwest Pompano Beach. The ministers say they don't want the Islamic center, with its mosque, in their neighborhood. They have argued it will jeopardize the community's safety because of what one group member characterized as the religion's 'track record' of terrorism. Dozier, 57, of Pompano Beach, has been leading the charge... Dozier and other ministers are planning a protest at 6 p.m. Tuesday at a Pompano Beach Commission meeting to object to city-approved plans allowing the mosque to go forward."