John Hayward Posted: 9 September 2010
Keywords: Christianity & Religion, Worldviews & Culture,
Does the international furore over the Dove World Outreach Center's plans say more about the Florida church's twisted idea of what constitutes 'outreach' or the world's fear of militant Islam?
The church's pastor, Terry Jones, claims their plans to burn several hundred copies of the Qur'an on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, is 'neither an act of love nor of hate', which leaves one wondering whether it is anything but a deliberately provocative, secularly motivated assertion of their rights to freedom of expression or just a means to attract publicity for the pastor's book, Islam is of the Devil. Clearly the church's members need to be reminded of 1Corinthians 10:23ff, 'Everything is permissible--but not everything is beneficial and not everything is constructive...Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God.' Not to mention Jesus' exhortation to 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.' (Matthew 5:44f)
That said, quite clearly the demonstrations already witnessed in Afghanistan and Indonesia on the basis of rumours that the book burning may go ahead are worryingly reminiscent of the deaths that resulted from the controversies in 2005, over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and false reports in Newsweek alleging that a copy of the Qur'an had been flushed down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay, and in 2008, after it emerged that an American soldier deployed to Iraq had riddled a copy with bullets.
Nevertheless, it is still not clear what 'clear message' the church thinks it is going to be sending 'to the radical element of Islam' and there are plainly more effective and Christlike ways of calling on Christians to 'return to the truth and stop hiding,' and to 'speak up against sin.' Our June 2007 Cambridge Paper, for instance, offered eight 'Christian responses to Islam, Islamism and 'Islamic terrorism':
- Address the theological issues
- Recognise the importance of the political issues
- Support moderate Muslims in challenging Islamist interpretations of Islamic sources
- Find a middle path between demonisation of Islam and naive political correctness
- Recognise the role that Christians can play as peacemakers
- Challenge and dissociate ourselves from Christian Zionism
- Reach out to Muslims out of respect and love rather than out of fear
- Be prepared for 'hard talk' with Muslims and Islamists
Thanks for this thoughtful essay.
A practical FaceBook response started last night - Christians who deplore Qur'an burning - is gaining support. Could you consider linking to it from your Facebook?
John Oliver 9 September 2010
Anybody who supports this should seriously re consider. Islam is not the problem anymore than Christianity is. Audacities beyond the imagination have been carried out on both parts. There is no holy war here only the illusion of one. 9/11 is a Luciferian date it represents sorcery by skipping 10. So to act on 9/11 only has one outcome. More bloodshed.... The issues of the world are rooted in corrupt government. These corrupt governments are controlled by unelected elite who wish to reduce the population of the world DRASTICLY. 9/11 was orcastrated by these evil people as a pre text for war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now it looks as though they are going to use this idiot Pastor Terry Jones to begin the next stage which will involve the US causing 4 or 5 terror attacks on their own soil and blaming Iran and Muslims. The next holocaust is upon us with Muslims instead of Jews. Please do some research on this. Google the new world order, the trilateral commission, the bilderbergs, They want to start a war between Muslims and Christians. These people represent Zionist Jews. Zionist Jews are a fiction a well orcastrated lie their true origin in Khazarian they are nothing to do with the jews google the Khazarian conspiracy
Rick 9 September 2010
Of course, if anyone were to burn Bibles, nobody would take a second glance. Just shows how hot-headed some Muslim communities are.
Marie B 10 September 2010