Do churches need to burn Korans in order to demonstrate their opposition to Islam?
I'm not sure I understand how having a bonfire fed by a religious book accomplishes anything good or is in any way Christ-like. Jesus didn't burn the books containing the religious traditions He found so offensive. Nor did He advocate His followers to set books on fire.
There is an occasion in Acts 19 where books were burned. But the story has no resemblance to what the Gainesville, FL church plans. The Ephesians who burned their books had been converted from pagan sorcery to life in Christ. It wasn't a protest. It was for them a rejection of their own past. It was a declaration of their new-found freedom. My hunch is the folks who will be pitching Korans into a fire were never Muslims.
The ramifications of their planned book burning are far reaching. General Patraeus warns that going ahead with the burning will only serve to ignite a greater hatred for and inspire an increased effort on the part of Taliban against US servicemen serving in Afghanistan.
I truly doubt that we can fight spiritual warfare - which is what the Gainesville church claims it is doing - with book burnings. There are better ways of evangelizing the world than by alienating those who need to hear the Gospel by extremist acts.
Or could it be that this is mostly a publicity stunt? If so, it's way over the top. Have they burned any other religions' books? If not, they should be consistent and do so. Why just pick on one?
A better way to observe Sept. 11 - the date of the planned burning - might be to remember those who died and honor those who gave their lives in efforts to save lives.
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6 comments:
If we are truly a free country, then that applies to everyone, not just those who agree with us. Not all Christians burn abortion clinics, and not all Muslims are terrorists. We are to be known by our love, not by our hate. How is it loving to burn Korans or harass Muslims? The churches involved in this need our prayers as much as unbelievers do.
Where are they getting these Korans? I'll bet they're using church funds. Or church people are purchasing them with money that could go to do something positive to share the Gospel. In either scenario it's poor stewardship.
The Taliban who killed my friend's son a few weeks ago will hear about this church and in their minds it will justify further their acts of barbarism. Not only that, it will inspire them to do even more against Westerners.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had issues with this.
It's not loving at all Brenda.
And Jesus asks us to love our enemies - and we'd do better justice to our God to do that on the 11th September. Remember our dying, and those who have died as Rick has said....
Might even be cultic behavior...what kind of orthodox Christian church would do something like this?
" Those who burn books may eventually burn people."
Compare the brand of "Christianity" of the FL church with the parents I posted about in the previous post.
Which is more like Jesus?
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