Burning our Witness
Posted on Sep 09 2010 | Tagged as: Christianity and Society
An open letter faxed on 9/9/10 to Terry Jones, Pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, FL:
Dear Pastor Jones,
I write to ask you to reconsider your plans to burn copies of the Koran this September 11th.
I believe you intend for this action to serve as a wake-up call to the church and the nation to oppose Islam.
Actually, however, I believe your actions would:
- dishearten millions of Christians, who have read the New Testament and cannot imagine Jesus and the Apostles spreading the gospel through rage, frustration and derision.
- undermine requests for Islamic sensitivity in Americans – as in the choice to build a mosque at ground-zero.
- aid terrorist recruitment both in America and abroad.
- make it easy for Christ to be misrepresented to millions of Muslims who have no access to the gospel, thus becoming a stumbling block to them.
- lead directly to the murder and added agony of many brothers and sisters in Christ, in Indonesia and elsewhere, who have no responsibility for the decisions you make that will impact them.
Burning the Koran would not be a show of strength. Our Lord Jesus demonstrated strength on the cross. His enemies spat on him, and he responded by asking his Father to forgive them in their ignorance. It was the greatest courage and love ever demonstrated.
Spitting back is only weakness. Please do not demonstrate such weakness before all the world as a pastor of God’s people.
Sincerely,
Glenn Parkinson, Pastor, Severna Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church (PCA)
12 Comments »
on 09 Sep 2010 at 3:18 pm 1 Candice Serafin said …
Dear Pastor Glenn,
Thank you for writing and sending your letter, as a pastor, it carries a lot of weight. Your words speak truth and so eloquently stated…as always!
Walking in faith,
Dave and Candice Serafin
Peachtree City, GA
on 09 Sep 2010 at 5:47 pm 2 Mark said …
If I may, what are your thoughts on building a mosque near ground-zero?
on 09 Sep 2010 at 11:19 pm 3 Glenn P said …
America embraces religious freedom as a fundamental right, so I think the placement of the mosque is a local matter for New York zoning authorities – in other words, all religions should be treated equally.
And since the recent Pew Forum U.S. Religious Landscape Survey found that only 51% of Americans profess any kind of Protestant affiliation, it will become increasingly important for evangelicals to support religious freedom in America. I believe that we are already a minority. Reformed Christians like myself are a small minority.
As to the desire to place a mosque at ground-zero, I believe that it violates the “Golden Rule” that Islam espouses. As Muhammad put it, “None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” (Number 13 of Imam “Al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadiths.”). The New York Post found that 70% of New Yorkers opposed the mosque at that location, and Time Magazine found that 61% of all Americans agree with them. I think most of those folks would agree with me that putting a mosque at ground-zero is extremely inconsiderate and demonstrably inflammatory.
on 10 Sep 2010 at 12:04 am 4 Flo Wolfe said …
As always, Glenn, succinct, well reason and “reformly” seasoned. You bless us all.
on 10 Sep 2010 at 9:50 am 5 Mark said …
I’m uncomfortable with the notion that the mosque shouldn’t be built because “most” people don’t want it to be. While it is important to respect other’s desires, the attitude behind the opposition seems dangerous because it implies that it’s reasonable to place a strong tie on the actions of a few extremists to all of Islam. If one affirms this attitude, wouldn’t it also be fair to say that there’s a strong tie between all Christians and extremists who murder abortion doctors or burn Korans?
Also, this attitude seems largely driven by fear, bigotry, and groupthink. It also seems extremely insulting to the 62 Muslims who died on 9-11 or the others that serve in our armed forces:
http://www.askthepriest.org/.a/6a00d83452429669e2010535b44f26970b-pi
Is it right to compromise our standard of religious tolerance in America to satisfy groups of people who cling to unreasonable hatred?
on 10 Sep 2010 at 10:33 am 6 Glenn P said …
Good points.
However, even if I have the best of intentions, if I know that my action will be inflammatory and will deteriorate a situation further, doesn’t the Golden Rule require that I seriously take that into account? Speaking as a Christian pastor, I have personally found that when I respect community concerns, a way can be found to strengthen the church’s witness rather than aggravate everyone.
“Is it right to compromise our standard of religious tolerance in America?” I agree that we must not. That is why I argue that the mosque must have the same access as any other religion, even though I personally think that its location is ill-advised.
on 10 Sep 2010 at 11:58 am 7 erin freeman said …
This is just what I was talking with Garrett about last night and that our deeds as a christian represent Christ to the world at large. Looking forward to your return.
on 10 Sep 2010 at 5:29 pm 8 Imams and Qurans « Words said …
[...] In another example of why I love my church, here’s what our Pastor (currently on sabbatical) faxed to the pastor of the church in [...]
on 11 Sep 2010 at 8:40 am 9 Grant Tibbetts said …
In both situations, as Paul teaches in God’s word,
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
1 COR 10:23-24
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
1 COR 10: 31-33
Our conduct is our witness. They will know we are Christians by our love. Do our actions (even in opposition) show love?
gt
on 11 Sep 2010 at 12:28 pm 10 Mark said …
There’s definitely a strong case for not building the mosque at the proposed site simply because changing it would be an easy, peaceful solution. It’s very wise to endeavor to live peacefully with others when doing so doesn’t conflict with our core values.
However, I can’t help but think about America’s standing on an international scale. More than one out of every six individuals on this earth is a Muslim. And, as I wrote earlier, the attitude behind the opposition to the mosque is one of unreasonable fear and intolerant hatred that unfairly links the actions of a few extremists to the entire religion. Changing the site’s location would mean submitting to the wishes of those that espouse this fear and hatred. I’m not sure that doing so would help America’s quest for peace with the Islamic world. Perhaps it would be better to stand up to the hatred to show the world that America is a nation of tolerance and respect rather than one of hatred and bigotry.
However, you’ve convinced me that changing the location of the mosque is a reasonable thing to do as long as it’s stated loudly and clearly that the only reason for doing so is to keep the already sorry situation from deteriorating further.
on 11 Sep 2010 at 9:47 pm 11 jen plant said …
I must say, I oppose the mosque at Ground Zero not due to “unreasonable fear and intolerant hatred”, but due to the insuitability of this site as a house of worship. My husband had family running through the debris, rubble falling on the roof of thier cars as they were late to work on 9-11. I think we should show Christ’s love to the world and I do not morally object to mosques at all, but what belongs on this site is a musuem, a monument, a park perhaps, a tribute to those who died. Not a mosque, not a Starbucks, not a parking lot, not a car dealership, not a house of worship. No fear, no bigotry, no hatred here. Let’s just keep things in perspective here.
on 12 Sep 2010 at 11:09 am 12 Mark said …
Fair enough. I hadn’t realized that people wanted not only ground-zero, but (at least) the two blocks around ground-zero to be a memorial site free of any churches, synagogues, mosques, or businesses.
Actually, looking for poll information revealed this:
“More than half of those surveyed, 54 percent, agreed with the characterization of ‘mainstream Islam’ as a ‘peaceful religion’ while 24 percent concurred that it ‘encourages violence’ against non-Muslims, and 21 percent were undecided, the poll said.”
from:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-31/new-yorkers-reject-mosque-on-family-concern-poll-says.html
So it looks like I was wrong.