THE GROUP BEHIND THE ANTI-MUSLIM AD ANSWERS QUESTIONS
Yesterday the Tennessean made national news when it ran an extremely Islamophobic ad warning that Islam was going to Nuke Nashville, which the Tennessean has now called “utterly indefensible” by their own admission.
It actually ran twice. They say they’re investigating how it happened, but Channel 5’s Phil Williams fairly wonders why an investigation would be necessary into how an ad got into their own newspaper
Seriously, how much of an “investigation” is needed? The @Tennessean should already know how this happened. This is clearly some PR person’s idea of crisis communication. https://t.co/CgKYbsOmpr
— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) June 22, 2020
They now say they’ll be donating the revenue to AMAC, but much of the community is deeply offended, and many say they’ll be canceling their subscriptions.
We won’t encourage you to do that, because it hurts the reporters at the Tennessean who are themselves also upset about this, but we do understand the sentiment.
We reached out to the Tennessean for answers, but have not heard back.
We did however hear back from the Seventh Day Adventists who placed the ad – an End Times prophecy group who insist they’re simply warning people of what will be happening July 18th.
Here’s our exchange with Jeff Pippinger, the apparent spokesman of the group, which calls itself “Future For America”. He says the ad placement was strictly transactional, and it doesn’t seem like the Tennessean asked many questions – although he told another publication a printer they planned to use to do a mailer wouldn’t send out the flyers… which is even more embarrassing for the Tennessean and their obviously flawed process.
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HOLLER: We were wondering how much you paid for your full page ad about July 18th in today’s paper, and if there was any hesitation in running it on The Tennessean’s part? Would you consider yourselves anti-Islam in general?
Thank you for anything you can tell us.
PIPPINGER: The Tennessean has backed out of the contract to run the ad, so am unsure what the ultimate cost will be. They were to run it more than twice. I think they should refund the entire amount. They broke the contract, not us.I have no idea of the editorial process that takes place at their organization. We consider ourselves to be Christian and the Bible teaches that Islam protects Christians in the final crisis. Those responding to the ad and the warning on the website, that are doing so simply from thier own political or religious bias’s are reading too much into our motivations. We are simply sharing what we understand the Bible to be identifying. Soon enough it will be evident whether we have read it correctly or not.
HOLLER: Thank you. And when you sent in the ad, did they question you about the content at all? Or was it a strictly transactional process? Also – did you attempt to place the ad in any other newspapers that would or would not run it?
PIPPINGER: It was strictly transactional. Did not try any other papers, may have had they turned us down, but they didn’t.
The concerns you mention are based upon the misguided premise of “political correctness”, and your question implies that you yourself accept that flawed social concept. Whether you do or don’t it appears that by asking the question you are either blind to the fact that you are speaking out of both sides of your mouth, or that you are being purposefully deceptive.We identify July 18. Twenty-six days to see if this is a foolish prediction or not. In the mean time you raise the issue of violence and enflaming anti-Muslim attitudes.So which is it my friend. Am I some religious whack job that is lost in my own little world of paranoid delusion? If this the case than how can your question possess any logical weight? Who would believe the claims of a religious nut job? Yet you present your question as if you are speaking to a child. “Do I understand the concerns…?”Yes I understand that when a person bases their world view upon political correctness, then the work of the “PC Police” is to place the subject of Islam above a citizen of the USA right to excercise free speech, especially in the realm of religious conviction.The only way any of these circumstances would be connected to a backlash against Muslims is if what we have warned about actually happens. At that point it will not be me that has caused the backlash, but Islam.You can’t have it both ways, simply because you echo political correctness. I am either a deluded fool, which by definition precludes my warning from being a point of reference for anything, or I am not. July 18 will clear all of this up, but I reject your inference that I should surrender my right to express my religious convictions because the PC Police have defined me according to their misguided world view.
NEW: “It’s disappointing the @Tennessean allowed this fearmongering to reach their audience… investigation is nice but it shouldn’t have happened.”
Muslim Metro-Council member @zulfat4council demands an apology for the hateful ad, says stay focused on #BLM & the pandemic.??❤️ pic.twitter.com/LHRRpoXmge
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) June 21, 2020
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