Not in My Name ...

This morning's NY Times carried a report about the plans of Pastor Terry Jones to mark Sept. 11 by holding a Koran burning (see here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/us/26gainesville.html?_r=1&hp). I find Mr. Jones's plans disturbing, both an American and as a Christian.

There is something fundamentally un-American about burning books. Since the earliest colonial days our body politic has thrived on the free exchange of ideas, good, bad, silly, dangerous. Not every notion is equal, not every belief sound. But the way to counter an idea that one finds objectionable is to refute it with logic, passion, and a good, persuasive argument. When I think of book burnings, I think of Nazis and 1930s Germany. That is never a good association.

As a Christian, I am even more troubled. Jesus was all about truth telling and he didn't pull punches. But I just can't see him condoning the burning of another faith tradition's holy books. After all, what Mr. Jones plans to do is not exactly a way to demonstrate the boundless love of God for all people.

Ultimately, this issue has nothing to do with how one views the Koran. It's about how one believes Americans and Christians ought to behave.

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