Friday 10 September 2010

Korans and Bibles

In the early morning there has been no sign of Zo.

And then there is the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida.

Will they or won’t they spend a day burning copies of the Koran?

It reminds me of a conversation I once had with Jeff Peake … a friend way back when I was a student. At the time I was a born again Christian and Jeff a once-upon-a-time Catholic.

He was leafing through a Bible that I had and asked hoe I’d feel if someone tore it up.

“I’d feel it was  bit of a waste” I said.

He was a bit surprised that that I didn’t see it as being some kind of deeply sacrilegious act.

To me, even then when I believed that the Bible was the divinely inspired word of God, the book in Jeff’’s hand was just paper. The words mattered. But the book was just paper.

On the TV news I saw the posters that declared “Islam is of the Devil.”

Of course, the people that write that kind of stuff really mean “Every religion and philosophy that disagrees with my outlook on life is of the Devil.”

Today I was wondering … would Jesus have burned copies of the Koran if it had been around then?

I wondered other things as well.

I think there are a lot of things He wouldn’t have done even if He had the opportunity.

Would He have fought in a war? Burned religious books? Killed people that burned copies of religious books … even the Bible? Would He have had two coats while He knew of people that had none? Would He have fought against people who wanted to persecute Him? Kill Him?

Pastor Terry Jones … I don’t know you or your congregation. And I’m not a Christian any more. But you know the answers to these questions. You do. Really you do.

Read I Corinthians 13. Read the Bible.

You are wrong.

Honestly.

It’s a shameful day for the Church when the world at large shows more compassion and understanding than does the Church.

And to the people of Islam … isn’t Allah  strong enough to make sure that things work out in the end?

Does Allah really need you to threaten people with death because of the actions of a few extremists?

Does Allah really need anyone to kill anyone?

Cannot God take care of Himself … or Herself.

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