In a month it will be 9 years since Islamic terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Centre in the US, with the loss of about three thousand lives. News reports say a church in Florida plans to commemorate the event by publicly burning copies of the Koran. Is this a good idea? Is it a christian idea?
The church is the Dove World Outreach Centre, and it says on its website that "God loves you and he longs for a real and deep relationship with you. He created you on purpose and it's his desire that everyone knows and fulfills his calling." But it also presents ten reasons why christians should join them on "International Burn a Koran Day". The gist of it is that (1) Islam is nasty, (2) Christians should "stand up and say no", and (3) "the world needs a beacon of warning and of hope".
Other christian groups in the US have spoken out against the idea. "It sounds like the proposed Koran burning is rooted in revenge," the National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson said. "Yet the Bible says that Christians should 'make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.'"
This idea seems so wrong on so many levels.
1. It is ironical that the church is named Dove World Outreach Center. The dove is often seen, especially in a christian context, as a symbol of peace. Muslims are part of the world. But this doesn't sound much like a peaceful way to reach out to Muslims to me - the church seems to want to make war, not love.
2. I don't think we should see people as enemies, but if christians do see Muslims as enemies, Jesus said we must love our enemies.
3. Standing up and saying no is pointless - "no" to what? Freedom of religion? If christians are concerned about something, they should be praying about it.
4. This doesn't sound like "a beacon of warning and of hope" to me - more like a beacon of insensitivity and bigotry!
Jesus said we should be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but it seems the church misses both of these targets.
WWJB? *
* What Would Jesus Burn?
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I'm really not looking forward to it. Firstly because it is another step in the campaign of harassing Muslims in the US, who are already disproportionally the victim of unusual "prevention".
ReplyDeleteBut another reason is that it will be a great opportunity of our national islamophobe to stand in the spotlights again and try to attract some more followers.