On the March 27 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage complained that Americans currently live in “post-Christian times” in which "[t]he churches are emptying out, the bathhouses are filling up, the sex-change operations are speeding up, the lesbian fertility clinics are increasing around the country." Savage went on to argue that God “orchestrated the rise of radical Islam” in order to counter the “spiritual collapse of the West.” He continued: “It's becoming increasingly clear to me that God wants radical Islam on this planet at this time -- that it's not actually the scourge you think it is.” He further claimed that God wants to show “you boys in Hollywood and you girls in New York City” that he does “exist” through acts of catastrophe like the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: “Down came the World Trade Centers. That was God speaking.”

Rev. Jerry Falwell made a similar statement on September 13, 2001, saying that abortion rights advocates, feminists, and homosexuals, among others, were responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Savage's comments also echo the rhetoric of Rev. Fred Phelps, pastor of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, which operates the website GodHatesFags.com and whose members have protested the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq because, the website asserts, the soldiers “voluntarily joined a fag-infested army to fight for a fag-run country now utterly and finally forsaken by God who Himself is fighting against that country.”

From the frequently asked questions section of GodHatesFags.com:

Why do you fly the American flag upside down?

An upside down flag is the international sign for distress. This country, as well as the rest of the world, is in mortal danger -- we're in distress. Our national support of perversity is bringing God's wrath upon us. September 11 was only the beginning. We have reached the point of no return. It is too late for this evil country to repent (2 Chronicles 36:16, 2 Kings 23:26). God's people must save themselves from this perverse generation (Acts 2:40).

In the same March 27 broadcast, Savage stated that radical Muslims “don't like the stuff that I don't like, frankly. The very same things that offend me, offend them. That's the strangest part of it.” He then explained that both he and radical Muslims are offended by transgendered people; in particular the former city manager of Largo, Florida, who was recently fired after announcing his plans to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. Savage said: “As they do offend -- for example, the city manager cutting his schmekel off to become a woman. To me it's disgusting; the doctor should be arrested, their licenses taken away, they should be given 10 years in prison for what they're doing to these poor mental cases. I mean these head cases who suddenly say, 'Oh, I want to be a woman, all my life, there was a woman within --' this is a mass psychosis that's going on now in America.” As Media Matters for America has noted, on the March 23 broadcast of his show, Savage blamed sexual reassignment surgery for the Columbine massacre. On the March 22 broadcast of his show, Savage claimed that “most” of the Islamic extremists “listen to this show and love me.”

As Media Matters has documented (here, here, and here), Savage has a history of hateful attacks on gays and lesbians. He has repeatedly referred to “the homosexual mafia,” claimed that “the homosexual dance of death” is the “seminal issue of our time,” and compared gays to “drug addicts.” As Media Matters has also noted, Savage was signed by Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency (CAA) for “representation in all areas” -- including television and film -- but was reportedly dropped by the agency after he attacked singer and CAA client Melissa Etheridge for thanking her wife during her Academy Awards acceptance speech.

The Savage Nation reaches more than 8 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it the third-most-listened-to talk radio show in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the March 27 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: So the country is founded on the principles of Christianity. A couple of hundred years later, where are we living? So-called post-Christian times. The churches are emptying out, the bathhouses are filling up, the sex-change operations are speeding up, the lesbian fertility clinics are increasing around the country. And the country is on the verge of an insane breakdown.

And enter this picture, entering this picture are devout Muslims, not only in America but around the world, many of whom, most of whom today are not fanatic, by the way. I have no doubt they would become fanatic if they smelled a chance to get away with it. I'll put that in context another time. If they could, they would impose their religion on everybody else, because that's a tenet of their religion. It is a fundamental tenet of Islam to convert everybody around them whether they want it or not. OK? But right now everyone is acting, you know, like good Americans. They're just minding their own business, the majority of them. And the others are watching over their shoulder for the FBI and the other intelligence agencies, as they should, because the FBI is doing a darn good job of keeping them in line, to be very frank. You know, just lay it on the line. They're keeping the would-be bombers on their toes, let's put it to you that way. All right? And that's good.

Now, you come to a point where the spiritual vacuum has emerged in the United States of America. Enter the vacuum are very religious Muslims. They don't like the stuff that I don't like, frankly. The very same things that offend me, offend them. That's the strangest part of it. As they do offend -- for example, the city manager cutting his schmekel off to become a woman. To me it's disgusting; the doctor should be arrested, their licenses taken away, they should be given 10 years in prison for what they're doing to these poor mental cases. I mean these head cases who suddenly say, “Oh, I want to be a woman, all my life, there was a woman within --” this is a mass psychosis that's going on now in America: “Oh, God, you're so wonderful, Steve, for becoming Clara. Oh, you're such an advanced, progressive human being. Isn't that wonderful.”

[...]

SAVAGE: Enter the vacuum, comes the fanatically religious Muslim who doesn't go along with the gay and lesbian propaganda, doesn't go along with the sex-change operations, doesn't go along with the slew of the very social degeneracy that we are all struggling to, let's say, live with without accepting. Because there's a huge chasm between living with something, and accepting it. But, you see, the other side not only wants you to live with what they do, they want you to not only accept what they do; they want you to celebrate what they do. They want you to mainstream what they do.

And what they're gonna get in return is the very opposite of what they think they're gonna get, by pushing too hard. But that's a separate story for another time -- few years down the line, you know. Well, a few years down the line, we'll have this discussion again. So, as I say to go back to my primary point, and forgive me for rambling here in this kind of filibuster-y kind of manner: God abhors a spiritual vacuum. That is why he has permitted, in fact probably not only permitted, but in a way orchestrated the rise of radical Islam.

[...]

SAVAGE: It's becoming increasingly clear to me that God wants radical Islam on this planet at this time -- that it's not actually the scourge you think it is. What it is -- it's a counterpoint to the Romanization of the United States of America and the West. The collapse -- the spiritual collapse of the West, the death of the West in that regard, is being countered by the birth of fanatic religion, which is fundamentally a fanatic love of God, when you think about it.

[...]

SAVAGE: And God, who is the center of this monotheistic religion, has said, “Oh, you don't worship me anymore? Oh, you don't like me anymore? Oh, I don't exist anymore? Really? All right, I'm going to show you boys in Hollywood and you girls in New York City that I do exist. But since you're very hard-headed, stiff-necked people, and you don't really believe that I exist because you've gotten away with everything you've done all your life without any repercussions, I'm going to show you I exist in a way that you can't believe.” Down came the World Trade Center towers. That was God speaking.