About a week or so ago, I discovered (via Facebook) that there was such a thing as "Burn a Koran Day". I was shocked, and rather grieved at this for reasons I will describe later in this post. The instigator of these plans is a man by the name of Pastor Terry Jones in Florida, who was described in articles as believing that "God hates Islam" and that "Islam is of the Devil". This propaganda has been printed onto t-shirts and mugs which are sold in the bookstore at Jones' church.
Let me begin by saying that, as a friend of mine said earlier today on the subject, I support the first amendment wholeheartedly. I believe in freedom of religion and of speech, but this is a small portion of my problem with what Pastor Terry Jones has attempted. If we here in America believe in freedom of religion, then should we not also treat others in that same respect no matter their religious practices?
As an American, I understand a little of the pain and sorrow caused by the losses of 9/11. I myself had the good fortune of not knowing personally anyone who was killed or wounded in those attacks, so perhaps I cannot completely empathize. We all honor our losses and the losses of others in our own ways. Jones' way apparently involves burning the books considered holy by Islam.
Aside from my earlier statement regarding freedom of religion, I must add that as the wife of a military man, I am highly concerned for the soldiers and other service members overseas. Particularly in the event that these books had been burned. On September 11th, 2001, we saw religious activists fly planes into our buildings. We later watched news channels quoting their countrymen hailing these activists as heroes of their religious faith because they had gone out and died for their causes. I ask you now, if you treasured your Bible as much as these men treasured their Koran, and then someone burned it, would you not then feel you had the right to burn or kill someone dear to that person? Someone that person considered righteous? Americans are well-known for our love of our countrymen. Even more so, we are known for the way we care more about them after they are gone. We hurt. We are the emotional wusses of the world in a sense and do not handle the loss of loved ones too well from an international point of view. Therefore, by even suggesting that the Koran be burned, this pastor has potentially endangered the lives of men and women overseas... I'm sorry, but I have had friends whom I do not know if they are safe or not. I'd rather they have a chance to continue living if they are still out there.
I applaud the cancellation of "Burn a Koran Day," and I pray that no one else does this as publicly as Jones has attempted.
It wasn't until after reading about the cancellation of the book burnings that I found out about another awkward situation Jones has created. According to a NY Daily News article posted September 9th, 2010, Pastor Jones expects his "followers" to live according to a rule book written by his wife, Sylvia. This book is described within the article as a "guide for prospective ministers" and is apparently called the "Academy Rulebook". Jones explained that the focus is to be entirely on God, which makes the rule book and his church's appearance look very good on the outside. However, upon further investigation, the book is not just about God. In fact, Jones himself is a fanatic. He has placed his church's members under a totalitarian rule, in which they are "punished" if they do not do as the rulebook orders. They are not even "allowed" to visit family members or friends, and weddings, funerals, birthdays and the like are no exception to that rule!!
Upon discovering the above article and it's grievous contents, I must say that this world is becoming more and more dangerous, and not just because of the potential threat to our troops overseas. I boldly claim having little doubt but what this man is a false prophet among other types of people spoken against in the very Bible he claims to be supportive of. We are seeing true prophecies come to life right before our eyes. Now is the time to be careful.
That having been said, I would like to encourage my friends, readers, family members, all of you... to be a bit more accepting toward our Islamic neighbors, both within our nation, and overseas. Perhaps we do not agree with their religious practices or their beliefs in general, much less their version of a holy book. Is that any reason to damn them to lives without a loving God which we have liberated ourselves from? My point is simply that general belief here in the US seems to be that God is a loving, all-powerful God who teaches us right from wrong as a father would teach his child. We have come to this understanding over time because there was once a day in the lives of people before us when God was wrathful and meant to punish us for our wrongdoing. As fragile, vulnerable humans, we could no longer take the thought of such a God, so we asked questions. We wondered, "What if He were different?" And so, with the changing tides, so did we all change. We became more open-minded then... we can do so once again and believe that God does love the sinner. And is it so hard to believe that though He may hate sin, He can spend more efforts loving the sinner than hating the sin?
Thoughts? Comments? Anything is welcome, as always.
No comments:
Post a Comment