I'm saddened - not to mention very angry! - to read of the plans of a Florida church to hold a Koran-burning on the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. CNN reports:
The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
"We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week.
Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.
Muslims and many other Christians -- including some evangelicals -- are fighting the initiative.
The church launched a YouTube channel to disseminate its messages.
"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts.
"No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."
. . .
The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.
"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.
Dove's Facebook page, set up for the September event, has more than 1,600 fans.
"Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in it's [sic] place -- the fire!" the page says.
But another Facebook group with more than 3,100 fans says it stands "against the disrespect and intolerance that these people have for the Muslim people" and encourages people to report Dove's page to Facebook.
Targeting another group it calls "godless," the Dove center is also hosting a protest against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who is openly gay, on Monday at Gainesville's City Hall. The group previously fought -- unsuccessfully -- to derail Lowe's election campaign.
"We protest sexual perversion because the Bible protests it. ... What is acceptable to today's leadership becomes acceptable to tomorrow's society," the church says in its blog entry about the event.
There's more at the link.
The saddest thing about this is the sheer blindness of this church and its pastor. It's a blindness shared by fundamentalists and fanatics of every description, whether religious, political, social, economic or anything else. They absolutely cannot admit that any point of view or perspective other than their own might be valid. It's almost as if doing so would somehow weaken their own faith, or purity, or whatever.
Unfortunately, they utterly fail to see the corollary to their bigotry and insularity. If they deny to others any freedom, any right, any respect, on the basis of their beliefs, then others are free to do the same to them. It's a two-way street. If I expect to be allowed to exercise my religion in peace, without interruption, coercion or intimidation, then I have to extend the same right to members of any and every other religion.
The 'Golden Rule' (contained in some form or other within the sacred writings of every single major religion on earth) bears this out. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I wonder if the congregation of the Dove World Outreach Center remember Jesus preaching that (Matthew 7:12, Luke 6:31)? It seems they've forgotten it . . . and in their blindness, they're going to stir up dissent, bitterness, anger and enmity between the followers of two of the great faiths of the world. I can't imagine our Lord approving that.
Peter
9 comments:
If it comes off, this will be a huge PR win for Al Qaeda and confirm everything they want their adherents to believe.
Who needs suicide bombers when your enemies hand you victory on a silver platter?
I hope the church members have deep pockets and a good lawyer, because if they do pull off this steeeewpid stunt, CAIR, the ACLU, the SPLC, and who knows who else will probably sue them for hate crimes, racism, and who knows what else. It's one thing to draw cartoons and do silly photoshop stunts (bacon Koran, Mohammed the pig farmer both come to mind), but sheesh . . .
LittleRed1
This publicity stunt is just silly and foolish. You don't boost Christianity by tearing down others. Christianity can stand on its own. I think that pastor and his congregation would benefit a great deal more by further study of the Word of God less worrying about Muslims. That really should be the pastor's primary purpose anyway right?
MechAg94
"Dove World Outreach Center"
"With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m."
Do they not see the MASSIVE contradiction here?
The fantasy of social progress in the past thousand years may be just that, though its veneer is cherished. Fanatics (of any dogma or self-inspired conviction) may gain followers in austere times and should be given as much attention as a bovine's intestinal parasite.
Evil is always easier than honest, steadfast goodness; as fanatics attract the lost and the vapid shouting loudly enough to bray above the din, gaudy in theatrical attire and assumed mannerisms while all that is good in humanity refrains from feeding yet another megalomaniac the craven attention for which it drools.
The message of the standard of our nation is not and must never become one denomination, though we have one thesis: Liberty.
Burning ANY book is too reminiscent of Hitler's Germany to me - THAT said, I have to say I understand the motive force of this action - Øbama bows and scrapes to all & sundry, as long as they are anti-American, the Ground Zero mosque is on it's way to realization, and hearing from so-called "moderate Muslims" castigating their more radical brethren seems an exercise in futility - unless/until Islam moves into the 21st century, I don't see where common ground may be found ...................
Semper Fi'
DM
Normally, I'd agree with you. If we do not protect the rights of others, how can expect society to protect -our- rights?
And yet... I"m not expressing this terribly well, so do try to bear with me.
respecting each other's rights within a society is a lot like playing a game. We agree to abide by certain rules, and limit what actions we can, and cannot take.
Western Civilization is the guy playing chess, and Islam is the guy who kicks over the board, beats the crap out of you with a lead pipe, and then claims that he 'won'.
Islam, as a set of concepts is an extremely toxic meme, and if allowed to run unchecked, will eventually result in a death-toll that would be truely horrifying to account for, if there were any non-muslims left to do the counting.
Please remember, Islam's -stated goal- is the destruction of everything that is not Islam. By any and all means. They get a blank check to lie to non-believers, and every aspect of thier culture that touches on non-beliviers refers to them as less than human, either directly, or in-directly.
while it may take two to have a fight, it also takes two to have peace. If the other person gives you a binary choice 'convert, or die', (Which is -exactly- what they're aiming for ), what will you do, ask them to be 'tolerant and respectful of your diversity'? We both know how that will end.
I dont know this answer to this one, but I"m pretty sure it's not pretty, whatever it is.
Cheers,
Matt.
Someone destroying their a book he or she owns in no way denies any other group their freedom. It's disrespectful, surely. Should we always be respectful of anyone else's beliefs, no matter what they are?
If this group was burning, say, copies of the Satanic Bible, would it be controversial?
Back in my old home town (and my liberal days) there was a charismatic preacher who held an annual book burning--and magazines, and records, and so forth. Needless to say it also brought a massive counter-protest. Legally, though, there was nothing that could be done to stop it.
Then I realized that records were vinyl, and their burning would produce a lot of dangerous smoke. I went down to the EPA office, and they got an injunction to stop it, citing a lack of permits to burn hazardous waste.
I don't know if I'd do the same today; my politics have changed, but book burning still seems so fundamentally wrong. I'd probably do it again.
Antibubba
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