Craig Winn: Difference between revisions
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Winn posts much of the feedback he receives on the Prophet of Doom web site.[http://prophetofdoom.net/feedback.Islam] |
Winn posts much of the feedback he receives on the Prophet of Doom web site.[http://prophetofdoom.net/feedback.Islam] |
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[[Daniel Pipes]] claims that the censorious Muslim response to Winn's books raises important concerns regarding [[freedom of speech]] and the [[Freedom of the press|press]]. [http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/377]. |
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The [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] |
The [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]] has accused Winn of "hatemongering and fomenting incitement for the purpose of cashing in on fear and ignorance."<ref>Muhammad Sultan [http://www.cair-net.org/default.asp?Page=articleView&id=39581&theType=NB "Anti-Islamic Ravings Are Shameful"], [[May 4]], [[2006]]</ref> |
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== Television and Radio guest appearances == |
== Television and Radio guest appearances == |
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Revision as of 00:14, 5 April 2007
Craig Winn is an American author. He has self-published six books, including several on terrorism and Islam. His latest book is called Yada Yahweh, a book critical of all religion, including Judeo-Christian religions.[1] Each of his books have been made available for free on the internet.[5]
After the events of September 11th, Winn began a research project with colleague Kevin Power to "uncover the roots of terrorism". They visited 120 countries and interviewed members of al-Qaeda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Force 17, the Palestinian Authority, the Knesset, IDF, and US generals, as well as Israeli secret service agents in the Mossad and Shin Bet. The two published their findings in the novel Tea With Terrorists.[2]
Winn has been interviewed in Business Week[6], and has been a guest on many radio shows in the U.S.[7]
Business career
In 1977 Craig joined his father's company, Winn Co., after graduating from the University of Southern California with business degrees in marketing and finance. There he worked as a manufacturer's representative.[3]
In 1986, he founded and built a lighting company called Dynasty, which he brought public in 1990, and went bankrupt in 1993.[3]
In 1996, he became a Dot.com entrepreneur when he founded Value America,[4] an early sort of electronic mall that was briefly second only to Amazon.com. The company raised investments from Paul Allen and Frederick W. Smith, among others.[5] Valueamerica.com had a successful IPO in April 1999, starting at $23 per share, reaching up to $74.25 at its highest point. Winn's share of Value America was, on paper, worth over $1 billion after the company's IPO, and he planned to use his new wealth to bankroll a political career, including a run for the presidency of the United States.[6] These plans were shelved when Value America imploded later. By December 1999, Winn had resigned from the board after disagreeing with all but one of the rest of the board regarding restructuring. Value America filed for bankruptcy in August 2000,[7] less than a year after its IPO.[6] It was one of the first large dotcoms to fail.[8]
Winn's book In the Company of Good and Evil: A True Story of Seduction and Betrayal is about his experience with Value America. Winn stated, "I, along with a small but great team of people, built a large and innovative etail company. But the founders turned the firm over to 'professionals' after taking it public in harmony with prevailing wisdom. They promptly ran it into the ground while lining their pockets. To cover their crime, they blamed it on me."[9]
Published works
His first book is titled Tea With Terrorists, co-written with Ken Power. This is a novel that purports to document an investigation of the motives of terrorists. Winn has also authored Prophet of Doom, which is a survey of his interpretation of Muhammad's life as derived from the Qur'an and Hadith. Other works of his are In The Company of Good & Evil[10] (also written with Ken Power), Future History[11] and Yada Yahweh.[12] He has published these books through the Cricketsong Books imprint, a division of Virginia Publishers, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of The Winn Company, LLC.[13]
Analysis of Islam
According to Prophet of Doom and Tea With Terrorists, Islamic terrorists are inspired by the actions of Muhammad and the verses in the Qu'ran. Winn quotes extensively from the Qur'an and Hadith throughout his books.
He publishes a rendition of the verses of the Qur'an in Chronological order which was compiled by analysing the material of Hadith. Winn worked with his team of "researchers" to compile a timeline of Islamic terrorism.[8],[9]
Regarding terrorism in Islam, Winn argues that the cause is "not Osama Bin-Laden, not Al-Qaeda, not some radical fringe group of extremists, but Islam itself."[14] In a letter to the readers on the Prophet of Doom website, he says, "The critics of this work will claim that Prophet of Doom is offensive, racist, hatemongering, intolerant, and unnecessarily violent. I agree - but I didn't write those parts. They came directly from Islam’s scriptures. If you don't like what Muhammad and Allah said, don't blame me. I'm just the messenger."
Muslim response
Winn's work has not been well received in the Muslim community, and some have circulated a petition to have one of his books banned and censored.[10]
Winn claims to have documented attempts of "Muslims filing complaints with the domain registrar to release private information" regarding his location and their repeated attempts to hijack the site [11].
Winn posts much of the feedback he receives on the Prophet of Doom web site.[12]
Daniel Pipes claims that the censorious Muslim response to Winn's books raises important concerns regarding freedom of speech and the press. [13].
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has accused Winn of "hatemongering and fomenting incitement for the purpose of cashing in on fear and ignorance."[15]
Television and Radio guest appearances
Winn has made numerous appearances in the media around the United States, over 1500 radio interviews by his own count [14] . Some of the shows are made available on his website.[15]
Bibliography
- Yada Yahweh: A Conversation with God, Cricketsong Books (? 2007)
- Prophet Of Doom: Islam's Terrorist Dogma In Muhammad's Own Words, Faithworks (April 2004)
- Tea With Terrorists: Who They Are, Why They Kill, What Will Stop Them Faithworks (October 2002)
- In the Company of Good and Evil: A True Story of Seduction and Betrayal Cricketsong Books (January 2002)
- Future History: The End of the Beginning
References
- ^ Chapter 0 Yada Yahweh
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b "Craig Winn, Netrepreneur," Businessweek 2000 article
- ^ [[2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ a b dot.bomb: My Days and Nights at an Internet Goliath. J. David Kuo, 2001
- ^ [4]
- ^ "A Short Time Ago," Fortune, July 25, 2005
- ^ Prophet of Doom: Questions and Answers
- ^ Craig Winn,Ken Power. "In the Company of Good and Evil". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
- ^ Ken Power. "Future History". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
- ^ Craig Winn. "Yada Yahweh". Retrieved 2006-12-31.
- ^ Ken Power. "Copyright information on sources used on FutureTruth.net". Retrieved 2006-09-23.
- ^ Description of Tea with Terrorists
- ^ Muhammad Sultan "Anti-Islamic Ravings Are Shameful", May 4, 2006