Feature Story - October 2010

 

Many Christian Leaders Denounced Threatened Koran Burnings

The pastor of a church in Gainesville, Florida, called for a planned burning of 200 Korans on the church property to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks. However, Dove World Outreach Center Pastor, Terry Jones, had an eleventh hour change of heart, in part, due to a phone call from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who warned that the event would likely place U.S. troops in greater harms way in predominantly Muslim countries like Afghanistan. That point was underscored by President Obama.

"As a very practical matter, I just want him (Jones) to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform.

Look, this is a recruitment tool for al-Qaeda."

The President added, "I hope he understands what he's proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans -- that this country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance."

In calling off the planned Koran bonfire, Jones said, the goal was "to expose that there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and very radical." Jones also told an NBC News interview that "we have definitely accomplished that mission. Even though we have not burned one Koran, we have gotten over 100 death threats."

There were a handful of deaths overseas during protests attributed to the threatened Koran burning, and a pair of less publicized events in the U.S. in which a small number of Korans were either burned or had their pages ripped out.

Just prior to the planned Koran burnings, nearly three dozen Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders met in Washington to condemned the event, as well as several reported incidents of vandalism at Muslim houses of worship and property, since a controversial project recently was approved by New York City officials to construct a 13-story mosque and Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero.

They issued a statement that, in part, read, "We have come together in our nation's capital to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America's Muslim community. We bear a sacred responsibility to honor America's varied faith traditions and to promote a culture of mutual respect and the assurance of religious freedom for all.

Our freedom to worship in congregations of our own choosing, to give witness to our moral convictions in the public square, and to maintain institutions that carry out our respective missions–all of these are bedrock American freedoms that must be vigorously guarded and defended lest they be placed at peril. The United States of America has been a beacon to the world in defending the rights of religious minorities, yet it is also sadly true that at times in our history particular groups have been singled out for unjust discrimination and have been made the object of scorn and animosity by those who have either misconstrued or intentionally distorted the vision of our founders.

The threatened burning of copies of the Holy Koran is a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation by all who value civility in public life and seek to honor the sacred memory of those who lost their lives on September 11.

On the basis of our shared reflection, we insist that no religion should be judged on the words or actions of those who seek to pervert it through acts of violence; that politicians and members of the media are never justified in exploiting religious differences as a wedge to advance political agendas or ideologies.

Silence is not an option. Only by taking this stand, can spiritual leaders fulfill the highest calling of our respective faiths, and thereby help to create a safer and stronger America for all of our people."

The meeting was called by Islamic Society of America President, Dr. Ingrid Mattson.

"For nine years, we have been trying to get the message out that we reject the extremist views of a few Muslims, their justification for violence, their justification for militancy. It has been difficult to get this message out because actions of the extremists are more dramatic," Mattson said.

Among the signatories was Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

"We've been the quintessential victims of religious persecution and discrimination throughout history. We know what it is like when people have attacked us physically, have attacked us verbally and others have remained silent. It cannot happen here in America in 2010," Saperstein said.

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, who represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told those gathered that he feared people outside America would believe animosity toward Muslims is the story of "the real America."

"It's not. This is not America. We have to make sure our country is known around the world as a place where liberty of religion, where respect for your neighbor, where love for your neighbor are the most prominent in our society. America was not built on hatred. America was built on love," McCarrick said.

A number of religious leaders who were not part of the interfaith coalition, likewise spoke out against the threatened Koran burning, including Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

During an online chat on "The Washington Post's" Web site, Land said, "The behavior of this church is not Christian. I cannot imagine Christ burning any religious texts. This behavior is unfortunately one of the prices we pay for living in a free society with freedom of speech and freedom of expression, even when it is odious and reprehensible."

Land added, "This would feed a cycle of violence in which acts by Muslim extremists would become self-fulfilling prophecies."

The handful of violent demonstrations in mainly Muslim countries against Jones' threatened Koran burning, prompted some to again question the nature of Islam.

Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director, Andrea Lafferty, said, "I condemn burning books in the same way that I condemn stoning women and beheading someone for being Christian, Jewish, too Western or too modern.

Radical Islam kills people -- most often its own people, but it also has killed a lot of Americans already. The press conference-holding clergy didn't get around to talking about that," Lafferty said.

Religious Freedom Coalition noted, "As Ramadan (Islamic holy month) ended on September 11th, the number of dead bodies hit a record high. In just 30 ‘holy days', there were 226 terror attacks on civilians, killing 1028 and wounding thousands more. Although for the most part Muslims killed other Muslims during their ‘holy month,' Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and others were murdered, as well. The attacks were spread all over the world, and included Nigeria, Thailand, Pakistan, Yemen, Mali, India, Tajikistan, Dagestan, China, Egypt, Indonesia and Ethiopia. President Obama calls the sunset call to Muslim prayer, ‘The sweetest sound I have ever heard.' There seems to be a disconnect with President Obama and the reality of Islamic terror," RFC stated.

Bryan Fischer, host of the daily "Focal Point" radio talk program on AFR Talk, a division of the American Family Association, in a posting on the AFA blog, said, "How can American lives be endangered by doing nothing more than putting a match to pieces of paper, if Islam is a religion of peace and moderation? How can this be?

Nobody is asking what Muslims might have done that ticked off Rev. Jones, how the Muslim world may, in fact, be the blame for his little demonstration. Nobody out there is saying that Muslim policies are ‘an accessory' to his bonfire, or he is ‘made in the Muslim world' because of Islamic attacks against America.

Islam has defenders galore, all eager to excuse Muslim violence against Americans on the grounds that Muslims have been provoked by the West. But when Rev. Jones does nothing more than commit violence against a dead tree, he has nary a defender to say that Muslim provocation is to blame," Fischer stated.

Some ministries say, just the threat of burning Korans by the Florida church will likely have an adverse effect on Christian missionary work abroad.

Geoff Tunnicliffe of the World Evangelical Alliance, was quoted by "The Washington Post" regarding Pastor Jones' comments as stating, "Here's the reality. That video will never go away. It will be so detrimental to our work with religious liberty around the world. Everywhere I go around the world, I will have to address this for years to come."

Open Doors USA President and CEO, Carl Moeller, said, "The planned burning of the Koran is a disaster on two fronts. It violates the command of Jesus to love our neighbor, and it would likely cause Christians worldwide to be more vilified and persecuted."

Moeller said, a possible Muslim backlash would probably focus on Christians living in predominantly Muslim countries who already are caught in the crossfire, including those who have converted from Islam to Christianity.

"The burning of Korans will only confirm what many Muslims believe–that Christians hate Muslims. That is exactly the opposite message we, as Christians, want to send," Moeller stated.

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