Posted on 09/09/2010 10:48:10 AM PDT by Doomonyou
A Bad Idea
International Burn a Koran Day
By: Chuck Colson|Published: September 8, 2010 5:00 AM
Remembering the terrorist attacks of 9/11 is something we should do. But there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to do it.
Pastor Terry Jones’s thoughts about Islam are simple and direct. The title of his book says it all: Islam is of the Devil. The same thought is on a sign outside of his church, the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, and on the T-shirts and coffee mugs the church sells.
In order to raise greater awareness of the dangers of Islam, Jones has designated 9/11 as “International Burn a Koran Day.” According to their Facebook page Jones hopes, and I quote, “To bring awareness to the dangers of Islam and that the Koran is leading people to hell. Eternal fire is the only destination the Koran can lead people to so we want to put the Koran in its place—the fire!” End quote.
Every Christian believes that no man can come to God but through Jesus Christ. That’s not a bigoted remark, that’s simply the truth claim that underlies Christianity. And I would expect that Muslims would tell me that my religion, Christianity, is a false religion.
The unique thing about the United States is that we are prepared to fight for and defend every single individual’s right to his or her choice to practice the religion of their choice. We learn to respect our differences in a free, pluralistic society.
I have also referred repeatedly on BreakPoint to the dangers of the Islamist movement, which is an ideologically extreme perversion of the Islamic faith. And this is why so many armed conflicts around the world involve Muslims—often fighting other Muslims.
And the attempts to inject parts of Sharia Law in the United States and Britain are a hazard to our constitutional order.
All that being said, I find Jones’s plan to burn the Koran foolish and contemptible. It poses dangers Jones has either overlooked or chooses to ignore.
As Dr. John Rankin, president of the Theological Education Institute correctly notes, if Jones burns the Qur’an, “the images will reverberate on the Internet internationally, and this could lead to unparalleled fury in the Muslim world.”
And most of that fury will be directed into violence against Christians in Muslim areas throughout the world. If Jones goes through with this horrid plan, people—Christian people—will suffer and some will die.
General Petraeus has even expressed fear for our troops in Afghanistan.
Second, Rankin comments, “The Gospel would thus be slandered.” The Apostle Peter tells Christians that we are to be good apologists, but as we give people reasons for our hope in Christ, it has to be “with gentleness and respect.”
Burning the Koran will be taken as the height of disrespect by the Muslim world where copies of the Koran are treated as sacred objects and are handled with the utmost care and reverence. Nothing in the Bible encourages us to treat Muslims or any other religious group with this kind of contempt.
Rankin concludes, “The stakes are high in terms of the reputation of the Gospel and protection of innocent lives in tinderbox sections of the Muslim world.”
My most fervent prayer is that Jones will reconsider and cancel the Koran burning in the name of the Gospel of Peace.
Part of a Christian worldview is the ability to articulate what we believe and why we believe it in the face of competing worldviews like Islam. But we detract from our witness if we allow anything except the Gospel to offend our unsaved neighbors.
Burning the Koran is JUST LIKE 9-11 alrighty...
Chuck, you are a moroon
We should have public Koran burnings in every city in America on the same day to make a real statement
We Christians ought to welcome this debate, because it shows a lot of glaring hypocrisy out there.
Just like the Nazi's, Good idea.
Give me a break.
Burning the koran is a bad idea, but it is HIS koran, and it’s his right to burn the darn thing.
You know who’s to blame here? The State Controlled Media and the White Hut. They are giving run to this thing. If they had ignored it, as they should have, it would have been just one whacky pastor and his flock of 50 defectives having a nice little fire that no one notices.
If we let Islam dictate our rights we are in big trouble..
He could have just burned them, recorded it, and made it available afterwards, instead of telling everyone weeks before he did it.
Jones is an isolated extremist
Christianity is a religion of peace
ha- sound familiar
If Pastor Jones represents all of Christianity, then Mohammed Atta represented all of islam.
Someone remind those hyperventilating ululating islamo a$$wipes of this as they are burning the US flag and issuing death threats.
Jones is out to prove there are no moderate tolerant muslims.
I agree, but what’s the point? What purpose will it serve? Anything Good? Doubtful. It MAY just serve to throw gas on a fire that’s already going strong.
Do you really believe burning someon’s religious book, an honorable thing to do? I think it’s petty and a pretty middle-ages sort of mob mentality thing.
Nazi’s burn people, like the Muslims like to do.
Making a public statement is freedom of expression, ever heard of that, beheading non-believers and blowing up skyscrapers is what would be opposed.
But then .... its US who are NAZI’s to morons
Muslims have been killing Christians since day one. Christians have been suffering and being killed by satans cult as long as history has been written.
You can take your spineless self and shove yourself up the muzzies a$$.
If he hadn’t announced to the world a week before he does it, it wouldn’t be a big thing either. What do you expect the media to do after it was announced?
The koran is the book of satan. BURN BABY BURN!
I do not consider Islam a religion, its a demonic cult.
Well I'm not opposed to tuning Iran into a glass parking lot. This is just a stupid thing to do.
And to think that God knew when and by whom it was going to be written, and what the consequences would be...
“I agree, but what’s the point?”
Again, to the well used slippery slope.
Condemnation of this act can, and likely will, embolden the communist element among us. They’ll plead for rules to contain people like this. It would be “better for all of us.”
What to do?
IGNORE them. Let them do what they will do, regardless of your own preference. I hate flag burners, but it’s their flag, if they want to burn it, I’ll ignore them.
If you must pay attention, realize that liberty isn’t always comfortable, or pretty.
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