Jeb Bush ally slams IslamBY DARRAN SIMON
July 08, 2006
Remarks on a radio show about his views on Islam may cause conflict for a Pompano Beach minister who is well-known in Republican circles.JOE RIMKUS JR. / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
POMPANO BEACH: The Revs. Alonzo Neal, left, and O'Neal Dozier stand at the planned site of a mosque.
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.
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On Friday, Gov. Bush's office issued a statement distancing him from Dozier.
''Gov. Bush in no way shares Rev. Dozier's views on Islam,'' said Alia Faraj, Bush's spokeswoman. ''Florida's greatest strength is its diverse population, which is bolstered by the many faiths of our residents.''
Dozier said later Friday that his comments ''shouldn't be linked'' to the governor.
He said he is concerned about political repercussions. Gov. Bush appointed Dozier to serve on Broward's Judicial Nominating Commission.
''I am concerned about the criticism in that I don't see where my personal opinion should cause an uproar in other people's hearts,'' he said.
Dozier, who has a degree from the John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, is among a growing number of black ministers who have embraced conservative Republican values on such issues as abortion and same-sex marriages.
In the past, Dozier has asked Gov. Bush's appointments to the Broward circuit and county courts if they were ''God-fearing,'' and inquired about their parenting abilities.
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