Muslim group seeking Huckabee apology for 'infidel' comments

A prominent Muslim civil rights group is asking Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, to apologize for his take on Christian churches that have allowed Muslims to use their worship space. 

Huckabee, who also ran for president in 2008 and is mulling a 2012 bid, said on “Fox and Friends” recently that he did not understand why churches would make that sort of decision. 

“If the purpose of a church is to push forth the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then you have a Muslim group that says that Jesus Christ and all the people that follow him are a bunch of infidels who should be essentially obliterated, I guess I have a hard time understanding that,” said Huckabee, who has his own show on Fox News. 

“Is there a reason to say that the people who donated, who gave, who sacrificed to give that facility really ever intended it to be a place where something that is the antithesis of the gospel of Christ would be presented?” he added. 

On Monday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called Huckabee’s comments divisive and proposed that he meet with Muslim leaders to discuss commonly misheld views about the religion. 

"On this Presidents' Day, we ask Mike Huckabee -- a person who may again seek the highest office in the land -- to live up to the principles of tolerance and interfaith respect that make our nation great," Nihad Awad, the national executive director of CAIR, said in a statement. "We urge Mr. Huckabee to do some research and to apologize for his inaccurate and offensive remarks."

The statement also pointed out that Jesus is discussed as a prophet in the Koran, along with Abraham, Moses and other figures. 

During his “Fox and Friends” interview, Huckabee also wondered whether, if a church is nothing more than a meeting place, it could be “rented out to show adult movies on the weekend.”

But Huckabee also demurred when asked whether he was comparing Islam to pornography, saying: “No. I’m sure that some bloggers will say that.”

“And I’ll read 300 blog accounts that will say that by noon today,” he added.