Controversy Hits Feverpitch for Qur’an Burning Day
A New Testament church in Gainesville, Florida, has proclaimed an “International Burn a Quran Day,” in commemoration of the ninth Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and to “protest radical Islam.”
Citizens, both Muslims and their allies, are perplexed and angry. Even military leaders, including an outraged General David Petraeus, are calling for the event to be called off in anticipation of the international sweep of backlash, which has already begun in Kabul, Afghanistan, with shouts of “Long live Islam” and Death to America” heard from the more than 500 protesters on Monday of this week. “We’re concerned about the implications of a possible Quran burning,” and ” it puts our soldiers in jeopardy,” Petraeus said.
Watch three CNN videos here, including a statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and an interview with the Rev. Terry Jones at the heart of the controversy, who says that moderate Muslims will get behind this event.
Officials are rushing to publicly condemn the burning Rev. Terry Jones has organized at the Dove World Outreach Center. The pastor sticks by his decision and has laid out why he holds such hatred toward the religion in his new book Islam Is of the Devil.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, an Islamic advocacy group, Council on American-Islamic Relations, called on Muslims and allies during the month of Ramadan to host “Share the Quran” dinners to educate the public about the religion. With Jones’ actions, Muslims worldwide are fearful of the effects this act will have on their everyday lives as they fight for acceptance in an increasingly Islamophobic U.S. and Europe.
Even the National Association of Evangelicals has condemned the day, calling its members to “cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths.” Meanwhile, the Dove Center’s website sells “Islam is of the Devil” T-Shirts, offers “free shelter and food for women who want to escape from Islam,” and has blog posts, including “10 Reasons to Burn a Koran.”
Hasn’t Rev. Jones ever mulled over Mahatma Gandhi’s passage “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”? What he says about fighting extremism with extremism? “We’re praying on it.”