Associated Press<\/b>
\nST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A Christian televangelist who harshly criticizes Islam and other religions said Friday that his late-night program is being pulled off the air because of pressure from a Muslim group.
\nEarlier this month, officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations wrote a letter to the TV station’s owners asking for an investigation of the show it broadcasts, “Live Prayer with Bill Keller.”
\nIn a May 2 broadcast, the televangelist said Islam was a “1,400-year-old lie from the pits of hell” and called the Prophet Muhammad a “murdering pedophile.” He also called the Quran a “book of fables and a book of lies.”
\nCouncil officials asked for equal air time for Florida Muslims to counter Keller’s comments, but never got the chance.
\nThe hour long show, which airs nightly at 1 a.m., is broadcast on WTOG-TV, a CBS-owned station that airs the CW network locally. WTOG station manager Laura Caruso said the decision to end Keller’s contract was a programming one, made by station executives and the televangelist.
\nBut after speaking with CBS executives,the Islamic group claimed credit for Keller’s demise. His last broadcastIwill be Aug. 31.
\n“They really based their decision upon our letter,” said Ramzy Kilic, the group’s civil rights coordinator. “They really did not know that Bill Keller was involved with this kind of anti-Muslim rhetoric.”
\nKeller is slated to begin a new morning TV show on another Tampa Bay area station, WTTA, on Sept. 3. A telephone message left with WTTA on Friday evening was not immediately returned.
\nAhmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa office of CAIR, said the council is weighing its options on what to do regarding Keller’s apparent new employment.
\n“Obviously we have concerns,” Bedier said. “He’s more of a liability with stations than an asset.”
\nKeller said his “Bible-based” message hasn’t changed in theI ive years the program has aired.
\n“(CAIR) intimidated the folks in New York, and the folks in New York caved in,” Keller said.
\nKeller, a regular guest on satellite radio’s Howard Stern Show, is critical of many religions. He regularly refers to the Mormon church as a cult, and told readers of his online column that a vote for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, “is a vote for Satan.” That drew a complaint to the Internal Revenue Service from the watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which contends Keller’s nonprofit ministry should be stripped of its tax-exempt status over his comments regarding a political candidate.
\nCopyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A Christian televangelist who harshly criticizes Islam and other religions said Friday that his late-night program is being pulled off the air because of pressure from a Muslim group. Earlier this month, officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations wrote a letter to the TV station’s owners asking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n