Bill Press is a syndicated columnist and the co-host of CNN's Crossfire, which airs Monday-Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Bill Press: American Ayatollahs

By Bill Press, Tribune Media Services

WASHINGTON (Tribune Media Services) -- Any time of crisis brings out the best in Americans, and the worst. Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, we've seen -- mostly -- the best.

They start with the brave rescue workers at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon: Policemen, firemen, paramedics, construction workers, heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, security guards and many others who are spending long days in the gruesome task of removing debris, sorting through rubble and searching for bodies. They are working tirelessly and anonymously, yet every one of them is a hero.

But it's not just the people on the front lines who have risen to the occasion. It's also the millions of Americans who live far from Washington or New York, but who responded as if it happened right next door: Those who gave blood, sent relief checks, or gathered in candlelight vigils or church services to pray for the victims and their families.

We are a nation united in grief and determination.

We've also seen the best in our president. Sure, he got off to a rocky start. And his rhetoric still sometimes sounds more appropriate to the World Wrestling Federation than the White House. He certainly made a major gaffe in calling for a "crusade" against terrorism, which, for any student of history, immediately brought to mind images of Christians marching off joyfully to kill Arabs for access to holy sites. He's since dropped the phrase.

Overall, however, President Bush has set the right tone. He has called for both retaliation and restraint. He has urged both resolve and patience. And by visiting Washington's Islamic Center and praying with Muslim leaders, he sent a strong message not to hold responsible all persons of Middle Eastern origin.

We take pride in the best. We take shame in the worst. Like those yahoos who have attacked fellow citizens just because they have an Arab last-name. They are truly ugly Americans. Fortunately, they are also few in number. Only forty cases of physical abuse have been reported nationwide. But every one of them is a hate crime and should be prosecuted as such.

But the most shameful display of hatred after September 11 did not come from nameless bigots. It came from two famous men of God. Before the smoke stopped billowing from the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev. Pat Robertson blamed it all on liberals.

Appearing with Pat Robertson on his "700 Club" the morning of September 13, Falwell said God was just punishing us sinners: "What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve." Robertson added: "Jerry, that's my feeling."

And Falwell left no doubt about who was personally responsible: "The ACLU's got to take a lot of blame for this." Whereupon Robertson chimed in: "Well, yes." Falwell continued: "I really believe the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'"

After a storm of protest -- even the White House called to tell them the president strongly disagreed -- Falwell and Robertson both apologized, sort of, insisting their remarks had been taken out of context. Nonsense. Why did they say it in the first place? Surely, one can disagree with Jerry Falwell on gay rights without being accused of causing the deaths of 6000 Americans.

Unfortunately for Falwell and Robertson, their apology comes too little, too late. There's no doubt what they said, and there's no doubt what they meant. They have lost all credibility. They are apostles of intolerance. Theirs is a strange brand of Christianity, indeed. They believe anyone who doesn't agree with them is evil. And that's the same twisted kind of religion that would convince a suicide bomber to kill innocent people as a ticket to heaven.

Instead of pointing the finger at others, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson should look in the mirror. The horrors of September 11 were inspired by men just like them: religious zealots who preach hatred, not love. Falwell and Robertson are America's Ayatollahs.

They represent the worst of America.