It is a seemingly complex issue but what strikes me is that the real issue is being stated but not noticed.First of all I completely disagree with what Pastor Jones and his church are doing. Try as I might I can’t picture Jesus involved in anything close to book burning.
Having said that, it is and must remain their right to go ahead and do it. If they are stopped, the implications to religious freedom are staggering.
However, all of that aside there is another issue that has been festering for years and was magnified post 9/11. On that fateful day and especially in the days following all blame was placed on radical Muslims, also known as fundamentalist or extremist Muslims. Of course we’ll never know what actually happened that day but it really doesn’t matter because the damage was done. Ever since then Americans and mainstream Muslims along with most of the rest of the world have villainized Muslim extremists. It is so bad that it seems the average North American thinks that the average Muslim hates us all and wants us all dead. This of course is causing most Muslims to distance themselves as far as possible from anything that smells of extremism or fundamentalism.
Now we have Terry Jones, an extremist, fundamentalist Christian – The American equivalent of a Muslim extremist only he burns books instead of blowing up things.
It’s at this point I wish I had graphics to explain what is happening in the world. Since I don’t let me share a quote from one of the many articles that hit the press this week as the media has taken this story around the globe and back again many times:
“Until recently, the Dove World Outreach Center was just like the many other nondescript evangelical churches that fill the US landscape.
For the past 25 years, it has quietly ministered to its flock while teaching a strict interpretation of the Bible and offering free food, clothes and furniture to those in need.
But in 2001, Jones, a former hotel manager, took the helm and started preaching against what he call the evils of Islam because, in his words, "Its sacred book is full of lies."
Reverend Larry Reimer of The United Church of Gainesville said it was important to know that Jones and his followers represent virtually no one.
"I believe they had 30 people at their service last week," he said.
Reimer said he has gathered 25 clergy from Gainesville, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, who will be reading Jewish, Muslim and Christian texts this Sunday in a show of interfaith solidarity.
"The issue is not between religions but between people who are fundamental fanatics on either side," he said. "We are finding that the Jewish, Christian and Muslims are more than ready to reach out to one another." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7988980/911-Koran-burning-armed-congregation-vow-ceremony-will-go-ahead.html
So Jones’ church was unknown until recently. They were flying under the radar. The description of the church is that it teaches a strict interpretation of the Bible and runs a food and furniture bank. That sounds like my church at a glance. We fly under the radar, we believe and teach the Bible as it reads, and we run a food and furniture bank.
Then suddenly a United Church minister from Gainesville comes into the discussion. His input? That Jones’ church is small and represents no one. Isn’t that interesting? He doesn’t even comment on the concerns of Jones’ about the Qur’an or address the teachings of Jones’ church. He just dismisses them as insignificant based on their size. Then he adds that he has gathered 25 clergy (a number almost as large as the attendance at Jones’ church) from the “Big Three”: Christians, Muslims, and Jews. His point? They are coming together in a show of interfaith solidarity – “We’re all on the same team and support each other”. Then the closing remark: "The issue is not between religions but between people who are fundamental fanatics on either side," he said. "We are finding that the Jewish, Christian and Muslims are more than ready to reach out to one another."
So behind all the hoopla around Terry Jones and his poor methods of expressing his beliefs is something else altogether. You see if the media was concerned that what he was doing was going to cost lives and hurt America and its citizens then why are they advertising his antics on every news outlet available to mankind? Why give him free publicity on the grandest of scales?
Because there is a global agenda. Obama stated clearly in a speech he gave in Berlin before he ever was elected president that the walls between Jews, Christians, and Muslims MUST be torn down; That this objective must be achieved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAhb06Z8N1c
You see behind the message of 9/11 is this message – people who fervently hold to their religious beliefs are dangerous and a threat to society; A threat to the common good. Now in 2010 the message is being taken a step further. Not only are fervent Muslims dangerous but so are fundamentalist Christians…
Here is the problem. I am a fundamentalist Christian. I believe that the Bible is true from Genesis to Revelation. I believe that obedience to the Word of God is the highest calling on my life. That what God says trumps what my family says, what my neighbour may think, what the government says and even what may be perceived to be best for society and the common good. Am I dangerous? Am I a threat to anyone? No, I’m not, but more and more our world is being conditioned to believe that I and anyone who thinks like me is.
The truth is that in every segment of society there are moderates and extremists. But when an extremist like Jones is described in a way that lumps all the moderates in with him I take notice. We all should.
One of the callers on a local radio talk show last week stated that religion is for the weak minded and that religion has done much harm in the world. I can agree to a point. Religion is bad when it is used as a tool by evil men to prey upon the weak minded. Religion will never die. What has made America great is religious freedom. What will take America down is destroying that freedom for a false purpose: “the protection of all”.
True religion is to visit the widows and orphans in their affliction. True religion is to build up and not tear down. True religion is a blessing not a threat. In man’s frenzied and futile attempts to save itself from it’s own greed and fears, mankind will end up killing the innocent again in the name of religion. Only this time it will be the masses – a union of “Christians”, “Jews”, and “Muslims” seeking out and destroying harmless fundamentalists who are simply trying to serve God and help their fellow man. The threatened Qur’an burning was just another step in the societal brainwashing that is leading toward that day.
I appreciate your feedback.
