Posted on 09/10/2010 12:17:56 PM PDT by mlizzy
Reverend Dr. Terry Jones has said that he would hold plans to burn Qur’ans in abeyance pending a decision on whether he could meet with Imam Feisal Abdul Ra’uf, the man behind the proposed Ground Zero “Cordoba” Mosque, to discuss abandoning, or at least moving, that mosque. According to Jones, he was promised such a meeting by Imam Muhammad Musri, head of the Islamic Society of Central Florida; Musri disagrees.
Whoever is correct, the much more important issue is the violent petulance with which many Muslims around the world are responding to an event which has not even happened yet! According to AP:
*An Indonesian Muslim cleric said that “whether or not he burns the Quran, Jones had already hurt the heart of the Muslim world. If he'd gone through with it, it would have been tantamount to war,” the cleric said in the coastal town of Lhokseumawe. “A war that would have rallied Muslims all over the world.”
*President Hamid Karzai, of Afghanistan, said “Humiliation of the holy book represents the humilation of our people.”
*Hamas’ leader, Isma’il Haniyah, said referred to Reverend Jones as “this criminal, this liar, this crazy priest who reflects a crazy Western attitude toward Islam and the Muslim nation.”
These over-the-top screeds of victimization are making Reverend Jones appear more and more sympathetic. Burning a Qur’an is “tantamount to war?!” Doing so would “humiliate” 1.5 billion people? Jones is a “criminal” and “liar?” At this point, one could argue that Jones should go through with the burning of some Qur’ans just to demonstrate that 1) an American has First Amendment rights independent of threats and rent-a-mobs in the Middle East and South Asia; and 2) a Christian does not have to abide by the politically correct shibboleth that the Qur’an is a holy book. Most media analysts do not give this second point the justice it deserves, bending over backwards as they do (almost as far as the Obama Administration) to present the Islamic perspective in a positive light.
As a Christian, I do not accept that Muhammad received revelation from God, for many reasons (most of which would require a separate, and much longer, column), most saliently that he and his “revelation” deny (in Sura 4:157) the key doctrine of my, and 2.3 billion other Christians’, faith: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to atone for the entire human race’s sins. That does not mean Christians should run out to buy a Qur’an and toss it into the fireplace—but neither does it mean that we have to pay Muslim-mandated obeisance to its alleged “holiness,” either.
And contra the alleged “hate-mongering” of conservative radio, I have heard a number of AM talk show hosts, and their callers, the past few days disparaging Reverend Jones for his “un-Christ-like” attitude—stating for certain that “Jesus would never burn a Qur’an.” Actually, since it denies the key element of His role in the universe—His crucifixion and resurrection—I think He might very well approve of burning at least THAT part of the Qur’an; I also doubt that Jesus would have any problem with consigning to the flames the ayahs in Islamic scriptures that mandate attacking non-Muslims (Surah 9:5ff), beheading them (Surah 47:3 and 8:12) and beating one’s wives (Surah 4:34)—just to name a few of the more egregious passages. Furthermore, Jesus cursed and killed a fig tree that was not bearing fruit (Matthew 21:18ff; Mark 11:12ff) and ran money-lenders out of the Temple with a whip (John 2:15)—so, as G.K. Chesterton ably points out in The Everlasting Man (pp. 190-91), the “meek and mild Jesus” of popular imagination is NOT the only facet of His personality. Reverend Terry Jones is certainly not Jesus, but even a fundamenalist Pentecostal clock is right twice a day.
"Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evil of the world today."
Great article! I don’t think Jesus had much patience with false prophets.
According to the Apostle Paul islam and anyone who preaches it is “accursed”.
Jesus preached peace love and brotherhood.
He would not burn the Koran.
My feeling is He would just ignore it altogether.
And if He read it, He would probably denounce it as being divisive and intolerant.
Interesting take. I’ve not heard anyone claim that Jesus would not burn a Koran, but I wouldn’t be surprised considering all the bizarre interpretations I’ve heard.
He might even throw in a few "Woe to you ..." bits for good measure.
Well, the big question for us is what WILL Jesus do with the Qur’an. My prediction:
14These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Why would Christ bother to burn the koran? The followers of islam are NOT going to heaven (John 14:6). We should attempt to make them see the Truth, but if they don’t want it, then we shake the dust off our shoes and move on.
While He might not burn a koran, I wonder what He would say about all these allegedly Christian pastors and priests who say that islam is a great religion and equal to Christianity?
Matthew 10:34-36
34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household
John 2:15
15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
I just hope people return to their senses before its too late.
Some people ask how a loving God could condemn unbelievers to the lake of Fire for all eternity future. I find a better question to be, “How could a righteous and just God continue to endure those who are unrighteous and reject His righteous justice in his presence for any longer than He indicates He will?”
Islam has a fundamental problem with Divine Justice. It ignores the propitiation of the Father’s wrath, the reconciliation of man to God by His terms, and the redemption of man from the slave market of sin. It further assumes humans are able to glean something that is righteous when their very thinking, soul, and hearts have a corrupted nature.
Even if they trusted their own heart, why not first place faith in God and what He provides for a just handling of sin in all of humanity?
Islam is simply one more variation on a theme of arrogant thinking, performing what is right in the hearts and minds of men, without any sanctifying work of God from within.
Jesus taught very clearly that we must reject anything that deviates from Scripture. He even went so far as to say that we must metaphorically cut out our own eyes if they caused us to sin. I don’t believe He was being literal because He knows we are all sinners and if we cut off a body part each time we sinned we’d be long gone by now. But I do believe that He would reject the koran overtly.
Jesus flipped over tables because they were using the Temple as a market. So He did get angry.
But I doubt he would burn Korans. Seems so petty.
A demon claiming to be the angel Gabriel appeared to Mo-ham-head, and Islam was born.
Anytime that we try to speculate what Jesus would do in a certain situation, we are walking on shaky ground. No one knows what Jesus would do with the Koran. Jesus always seems to do what we would do in a certain situation or what WE want Jesus to do. If there is one thing that we should learn from the gospels, is that Jesus rarely did want anyone expected him to do. Jesus was not political. I do not find any place in the Scriptures where Jesus told people to burn the books or scrolls of pagan philosophers. Jesus was too busy preaching repentance to be distracted by the Koran if it had existed.
Matthew 10:
34”Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[e]
37”Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “
The Bible doesn’t just show us a self-sacrificing Jesus. He is King. This is his earth. That is what makes his sacrifice on our behalf so wonderful. He chose to go to the cross. Christ commands us as his followers to turn the other cheek to a slap, not a bomb or a bullet, an arrow or spear. Christ also told his apostles if they did not have a sword to sell their cloak and buy one. He also turned over the money changers tables in the Temple.
I've been asked that too. I tell people that the choice is theirs and they know the consequences. He has made them clear.
Ignore it?? Didn’t he kick the moneychangers out of the temple? The koran teaches evil...
Wonder no more.
It won’t be long before we see just what Jesus will actually do ...
Did you forget the /sarcasm tag?
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