A so called Christian church in Gainesville, Florida seems to have lost its way or, has elected to totally ignore the teachings of the one it claims to follow ... Jesus Christ.
This Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the attack by radical Islamists against the United States, this no less radical church plans to burn copies of the Koran. To the Muslim community the Koran is their Holy Book, no different than the Bible is to the Christian community.
According to the Bible, Christ gave his followers two commandments. One is: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (John 13:34).
The Dove World Outreach Center claims to be a New Testament Church based on the Bible. At least that it what it professes on its website. Perhaps its pastor, Terry Jones, needs to read the Bible that church says it follows.
Burn the Koran? Book burning has a long and dark history. One of the more famous, or infamous, took place on May 10, 1933 when the Nazi regime burned the books it considered "un-German." The burning of books is recorded as far back as 213 BC by Qin Shi Huang in China.
In 1821, the writer Heinrich Heine wrote: "Where they burn books, they will end in burning human beings."
Indirectly Heine could be prophetic. Such an action will put our military at greater risk. Not just from the Taliban and those they facing in combat but the entire Islamic population. Where they are treated as friends now, they will be seen as enemies, simply by association with a handful of Christian fanatics. As a side note, the word fanatic has its roots in the word fantasy and these few people are certainly living in a fantasy world putting the rest of the world in jeopardy.
My stand on organized religion is not a secret. Although, I accord respect to those who believe and try to live their lives as their beliefs may dictate. However, this group and all those who tend to follow them, do not deserve the respect of any thinking individual.
To my knowledge, there is not a religion anywhere whose prayers and intercessions do not include peace for our fragile world. I wonder what their reaction would be if a splinter group of some religion decided to burn the Bible on Christmas or Easter.
Padre Pio, a Capuchin priest who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, wrote in a letter in 1812: "The Devil does not want to lose this battle. He takes on many forms."
In this One Person's Views, maybe Padre Pio's thoughts are right.
This self-proclaimed outreach is not only a threat to our national security but a disgrace to the Christian community. If they follow through with their plans, the Dove World Outreach Center will have accomplished more to harm our troops and their mission than any group carrying weapons.
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