Anti-Islam Book Scrapped Over Allegations

The pastor of a huge Oklahoma City church has scrapped his book condemning Islam over allegations of plagiarism and faked endorsements. Brian Waite, pastor of 3,600-member Quail Springs Baptist Church, said he's stopping sales of "Islam Uncovered" this week and is destroying remaining copies, "The Oklahoman" reported.

Through an anonymous source, the newspaper started investigating charges of plagiarism against Waite, who admitted that "significant information" in the 178-page book was not attributed properly. "Some references were left off inadvertently. It was just, quite honestly, a mistake," said Waite, 36, when asked whether large portions of the book were taken nearly verbatim from Internet sites and other sources.

Additionally, Waite acknowledged he falsely claimed endorsements from nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas and evangelist Franklin Graham. Waite thought the two had approved the endorsements displayed on the book's back cover. Waite said he "made calls to each, and apologies were made," "The Oklahoman" reported.

About 2,000 copies of "Islam Uncovered" were printed, and about half had been sold for $16.95 each, the publisher said. Waite said he won't receive any compensation for the book and won't try to republish it in a corrected form. "It is probably in the best interests of all parties to not re-release this book," he said.

source: http://www.charismanews.com/online/articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=5560