The Thirst for Freedom

A Florida pastor says he has called off the Quran burning scheduled for September 11, 2010. No… Wait… That’s not for sure, maybe they’ll do it anyways! (http://us.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/florida.quran.burning/index.html)

So… Should Christians burn the Quran?

Point 1: There is nothing immoral about burning the Quran.
Point 2: There is nothing illegal about burning the Quran.

Is it offensive to burn the Quran? Should all of the various Christian, Muslim, and political leaders be speaking out against this burning?

There is no such God given right to “not be offended.”

I remember getting an email once calling on all Christians to contact some television network because what they were showing was “offensive to Christians.”

I don’t care if television is offensive to Christians. I don’t really care if it is offensive to anybody.

I do care if the material is inappropriate for a general public audience or for the age group that may be watching. I may choose not to watch it if it is hostile to God or to Christians.

But whether or not it is “offensive” to burn the Quran isn’t really that important. I am not concerned if people burn the Bible either. As long as they paid for them, they can do with them whatever they want.

So should we be held hostage by the supposed millions who may act childishly and riot, etc. if this pastor burns Qurans?

A lot is being said to condemn this pastor, but where are the voices condemning such absurd behavior as the predicted response?

I for one don’t intend to condemn this pastor because others will act wrongly as a result of his actions.

He is not doing anything immoral, he is not doing anything illegal, and it doesn’t really matter if it is offensive.

There are two other important questions though:

1) What good will come of this Quran burning? Will anything useful be achieved?
2) Is this pastor choosing the right battle to fight here, by burning these Qurans?

Try as I might, I cannot think of anything useful that will be achieved. It is already established that he has the right to do it. Everyone will choose to either agree or condemn him, but what is the point? “The Quran is bad?” “Islam is bad?”

I don’t believe in Islam. I don’t believe all religions are equal. I don’t believe all religions are true. I’m not afraid to say that I hope all Muslims leave that system and find saving faith in Jesus Christ instead. But I don’t need to rub that in the face of Muslims. Many Muslims believe that I have chosen a false religion by believing that Jesus is God and that Mohamed is not a prophet of the One True God. I am not threatened or offended by their opinion.

I could still be neighbors with a Muslim. I could even be friends. I could talk to a Muslim respectfully about the differences between our religions. I wouldn’t talk about that all the time though. Perhaps some good food and talking about family, weather, fun, hope, etc. would be an important part of our conversation!

If a Muslim asked me “what about this guy who is burning Qurans?” I would say “ignore him, it is not relevant.”

I wish to reach out to Muslims, not unnecessarily alienate them. I am not willing to claim that “all religions are good” in order to meet this goal, but I am willing to avoid stupid provocation or useless conflict.

In the end, if this pastor were someone that I knew personally, I would say “don’t waste your time burning Qurans. Nobody will benefit. God won’t benefit. No Muslims will give their lives to Jesus as a result. All you will get is a whole lot of grief and no benefit.”

I would like to see a public figure respond to this pastor and this Quran burning by saying “whatever, can we talk about something that matters?”

It’s only an issue because of all the hype.

I find the idea of anyone of any age being forced to marry extremely disturbing. There is no doubt in my mind that this constitutes a crime that should continue to be punishable by law. When such arrangements are forced on underage children we are talking about a great evil!

But as I watch this story unfold I have questions. I have been trying to think about how to express those questions. Then I stumbled on this article by Joseph Farah at WorldNetDaily.com. He asks some good questions! I encourage you to read the article.

Here is a sample:

Is there a community in America where child abuse is not taking place?

Don’t we normally arrest individual suspects and try them for their crimes?

Do we normally and pre-emptively round up all the children in a community where it is suspected abuse is taking place without specific evidence?

When a government schoolteacher is arrested for abusing one student, are all the students in that school assumed to be victims?

And why aren’t all the usual, dependable advocates of tolerance, diversity and alternative lifestyles actively protesting the disruption of life within a peaceful community based on society’s imposition of its own sense of morality?

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