Heresy for Sale: The Downfall of Rep. Mark Siljander

There once was a Member of the House of Representatives. His name was Mark Siljander. He was known as a conservative from Michigan, and he served three terms, from 1981-1987. Pretty unremarkable.

Then came the terrorist attacks of 9/11. While most of us studied up on shari’a law and woke up to the dangers of the Islamist thousand year war on Western Civilization, Siljander tried to “bridge the Muslim-Christian divide.” He took trips to the Middle East, bringing Christian leaders with him to try to “bridge the divide”. He wrote a book which claimed (to much acclaim) that the Islamic Allah and the Christian God were one and the same. The former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wrote the foreword, and notable post-modern Christian heretic Brian McLaren joined in the praise and adoration of the book. So did Dr. Ergun Caner, who was dismissed earlier this month as the head of Liberty University’s seminary after an investigation into his own fraudulent past and claims. The book managed to put itself on the shelves of Christian bookstores around the country and right here in South Carolina.

Of course, in addition to being a brainless heresy, the whole thing was a fraud.

Siljander was indicted in federal court for money laundering, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice on behalf of the Islamic American Relief Agency, a group raided in 2004 by the FBI and referred to as “Al Qaeda in Missouri”. Their Executive Director was trying to teach shari’a in American public schools. As it turns out, Siljander had been paid $75000 under the table to represent IARA and try to improve their status with the Senate Finance Committee (who had listed them as a terrorist supporting organization.) According to the original indictment, Siljander allegedly laundered money for an Afghan warlord with ties to Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Earlier this month, Siljander entered a plea deal to obstruction of justice and illegally representing IARA without filing as a lobbyist. He faces fifteen years in the federal pokey.

The website for the book is still up, and Edwin Meese, Rod Beckstrom, and Cal Thomas still have their names up there (Memo to their PR reps: you might want to get that pulled down…). The book stands as thoroughly discredited as its author, a paid shill for a terrorist faith who got his hand caught in the cookie jar.

Those who went with him to Sudan and other places around the world to promote ‘interfaith understanding’ should beware: they’ve been duped – big time. The doctrines he espoused were in direct conflict with Biblical teaching on the identity of Christ and His supremacy. Worse, they appear to have been bought and paid for by enemies of the faith and of the nation.

Next steps? Christian bookstores need to take this one off the shelves, including on college campuses. His can no longer be considered a respectable opinion with which orthodox evangelicals disagree; it’s paid hackery at its worst.

Congressmen everywhere – especially the newest class of former Congressman – should take note at the dangers of going for the quick lobbying buck after leaving office. It’s a road fraught with dangers that too often end in prison terms.

Finally, the rest of us need to keep our guard up. Creeping Shari’a has many sources, many friends in high places. Citizens continue to stay on guard for their liberty, and so we must. Our liberties need to remain protected against those who would sell us out to the Islamists for 30 pieces of silver.