Burning the Koran

September 8, 2010 in Church Follies with 6 Comments

Some of you have been wondering what our response is to the Christian threat of burning the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11. The so-called “Burn a Koran Day”.

I believe it is one of the most degrading, selfish, disrespectful and cruel acts imaginable. It could even cost Americans their lives. As someone who has dear missionary friends serving in a Muslim country, this buffoonery crosses the line from embarrassing into dangerous. But, of course, “someone has to stand up to Islam.” Right?

Something tells me Jesus would be washing the feet of Muslims. Not threatening to burn their most holy book. To those who are on the outside of Christianity looking in, this is not how Jesus, the one whom we follow, would behave. Trust me.

I hope I wasn’t unclear.

—

UPDATE: I think we would do well to heed Anne Jackson’s words this morning: “Don’t try to prove how progressive you are by ‘condemning’ foolishness- fools don’t care what you think. It’s what makes them fools.”

UPDATE #2: Apparently, something got through to this pastor. He has cancelled the scheduled “Burn a Koran Day”. Wisdom prevails. (HT: Alan Colmes & AP).

BeDeviant.com runs on the Standard Theme

Standard Theme

The Standard Theme is a premium WordPress theme. Standard is a meticulously crafted and coded personal and professional blogging theme built with industry standards in mind.


With out-of-the-box solutions for social sharing, SEO optimization, advertising and social networks, The Standard Theme will set you up for blogging success. It does all the heavy lifting for you, whether you're a blogging beginner or seasoned pro. Check out The Standard Theme now and get started on your hassle-free blogging adventure!

6 Responses to “Burning the Koran”

  1. Vince September 8, 2010 at 10:16 am #

    People fear what they do not understand. It threatens them because it is different from what they believe. But if you take a closer look at Islam, it is very similar to old testament – Moses time style religion. Full of laws. If you read the Quran, you will find references to Jesus and angels like Gabriel. The only difference with Christianity is they do not believe Jesus is Christ just like Jews.

  2. Matt @ The Church of No People September 8, 2010 at 10:23 am #

    I wonder if the church will be burning the parts of the Koran that cross over with the Old Testament and the story of Jesus, since Muslims do believe he was a prophet.

  3. Steve Brubaker September 8, 2010 at 1:26 pm #

    I agree with Vince, “people fear what they don’t understand.” For me, book burning of any type always takes a society a step closer to fascism, where the free expression of ideas is censored. Hitler burned books in Nazi Germany.

    This incident has reminded me of a show from The Waltons, since I’m an “old” guy, and I was able to find the poignant close to the ‘Fire Storm’ episode on YouTube. Jump to 1:10 for the start of a scene that has stuck with me for almost 40 years… http://youtu.be/S9Lq-v3VWjA

    You were crystal clear, Justin, and I agree.

  4. Darrell September 9, 2010 at 8:06 am #

    thank you for being to direct.

  5. Tony Whittaker September 10, 2010 at 10:03 am #

    Mercifully the danger seems to have passed. Of course, it would have put in danger not only western missionaries, but also secular expats, and even perhaps more important, MBBs (Muslim Background Believers) who would have lacked significant protection or respect in many countries.

    Perhaps we can now share the wry joke going round the web that it was all a typo: What the news reports should have said was that a pastor planned to burn 200 Korans onto CD!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks:

  1. More on the 9/11 Qur’an Burning « Simul Iustus et Peccator - September 8, 2010

    [...] Justin Wise of BeDeviant calls this “one of the most degrading, selfish, disrespectful and cruel acts imaginable.” [...]