Koran burning threat

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo of the Barnabus Fund has stated that the proposal by an American pastor to burn copies of the Qu'ran is an "unnecessary, offensive and dangerous gesture”.
 

Koran burningThe proposal by a church in Gainsville, Florida, USA, the Dove World Outreach Centre, to burn copies of the Qur’an on Saturday 11 September to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has resulted in international outrage. The stated purpose of the proposal is to raise awareness of the ideology and teaching of Islam and to warn against its dangers.It sits amongst the debate surrounding the plans to build a 'mega mosque' in the close proximity to ground zero in New York.


The Barnabas Fund has condemned the proposed action, for the following reasons:

 

  • Barnabas Fund is fully committed to making known the aspects of Islam that result in injustice and oppression of non-Muslims, not least the persecution of Christians. But we believe that the biblical and Christ-like way to do this is by speaking the truth in the power of God’s love, and by extending that love to Muslim people even when they are hostile to us. In that context it can never be justified to destroy a book that Muslims regard as sacred, however firmly and profoundly we may disagree with its contents.

  • The effect of the proposed action on Christians in Muslim-majority contexts is likely to be extremely serious. Already Muslim militants in Indonesia have promised to kill Indonesian Christians if Qur’ans are burned in Florida, and the history of anti-Christian violence in the country suggests that this is not an idle threat. Barnabas partners in Iraq have expressed concern at the probable Muslim backlash against an already beleaguered Iraqi Church. And Christians in numerous other places who live in daily fear of potentially deadly attacks will at once be placed in much greater danger. It cannot be right to exercise our freedom to protest in a way that puts at risk the lives of our brothers and sisters, for whom Christ died.

  • There is a further risk that Christian minorities may be divided among themselves as churches with links to the West come to be unfairly associated with the action taken in Florida and its destructive consequences. It is important for Christians under pressure to be united, as their division serves only to weaken the Church and increase its vulnerability to Muslim attacks. It is therefore wholly inappropriate to undermine that unity for the sake of an unnecessary, offensive and dangerous gesture.


For these reasons the Barnabas Fund are urging the Dove World Outreach Centre and its supporters to refrain from burning Qur’ans on the anniversary of 9/11. It invites all Christians instead to "join with us in prayer for persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world, and that the hatred and violence that endanger them may be overcome by the grace and love of Christ."




The Barnabus Fund is an interdenominational Christian aid agency that serves Christians in many countries who face discrimination or persecution, and makes their needs known to Christians around the world, encouraging them to pray. It provides practical help to strengthen and encourage the Church in many different ways. Barnabas Fund was established in 1993 and channels aid to projects run by national Christians in more than 50 countries. The work of Barnabas Fund began under the auspices of another registered charity in 1993, and is now an independent charitable company incorporated in 2000.

Barnabus Fund / Christians Together, 10/09/2010