GOP Rep. Bennett Calls Islam a 'Cancer in Our Nation that Needs to be Cut Out'

(OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, 9/16/14) -- On Wednesday, September 17, National Muslim Groups were condeming remarks made by Rep. John Bennett (R-OK) at a party gathering Sunday night in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. The GOP Representative told constituents that Islam's goal is "the destruction of Western civilization from within," that the faith is 90 percent "violence" and that Islam "is a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out." He added that he is "not going to stand back and let [Muslims] push Islam into our nation."

The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) announced it will hold a news conference outside Oklahoma Republican Party headquarters in Oklahoma City to call on state GOP leaders to repudiate the legislator's incitement to violence against Muslims and to seek stepped up protection for that state's Islamic community.

"This apparent call for a violent purge of Muslims by an elected official must be taken seriously and should be repudiated by Oklahomans of all faiths and backgrounds," said CAIR-OK Executive Director Adam Soltani.

Because of the increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric and bias incidents, CAIR-OK is urging state Muslims to take precautions when in public.

In a recent Facebook post, Bennett called on Oklahomans to be "wary" of "Muslim Americans" and falsely claimed that the Quran says people of other faiths "should be killed."

CAIR-OK called on state Republican Party leaders to denounce the anti-Muslim comments and asked for an apology from Bennett.

CAIR's national headquarters also called on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to "publicly repudiate anti-Muslim remarks by Bennett and Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Dave Weston, who supported Bennett's anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Weston even added his own anti-Muslim remarks. He told state media outlets: "There is so much overwhelming evidence around the world that the fundamental beliefs of Islam authorize anything but peace until they become dominant."