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"The greatest tragedy is how persecuted Christians find themselves precariously at risk due to the offenses of one tiny Florida church." -- Faith J.H. McDonnell, IRD Religious Liberty Director
Contact: Jeff Walton, Institute on Religion and Democracy, 202-682-4131, 202-413-5639 cell, jwalton@TheIRD.org
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 /Standard Newswire/ -- A Florida church planning to burn a copy of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks is drawing criticism from Christian leaders who fear the act will endanger Christians overseas.
The Gainesville-based Dove World Outreach Center plans to destroy the Islamic holy book in a bonfire according to its pastor, Terry Jones, who says that Islam is "of the Devil".
Christian leaders in Muslim-majority nations, including Pakistan Christian Congress president Nazir Bhatti, have appealed to the small Florida congregation's leaders not to go ahead with the event. Bhatti said the Quran burning would provide radical Islamists with another excuse to attack already at-risk Christians in Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Mainline Protestant officials and other religious voices joined on September 7 in Washington, D.C. with the Islamic Society of North America to denounce the Florida church and the rise in "anti-Muslim bigotry" in America as evidenced by the threatened Quran burning and the opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque.
IRD Religious Liberty Director Faith J.H. McDonnell commented:
- "It is unfortunate that the crude burning of the Quran is the most sophisticated critique of Islam that Jones and his congregation can offer. This seems less about contesting the truth claims of Islam and more about purposefully seeking to cause offense for its own sake.
"The greatest tragedy is how persecuted Christians find themselves precariously at risk due to the offenses of one tiny church, while American Christian leaders this week flocked to defend American Muslims from non-existent physical threats.
"Just as we do not hold all Muslims responsible for the September 11 attacks, Muslims should not hold Christian minorities responsible for the actions of one tiny Florida church.
"If it takes something as incendiary as the destruction of a Quran to draw attention to the worldwide suffering church, we have not set our priorities in proper order. Every day, Christians in Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan, and elsewhere in the Islamic world face oppression and persecution brought about without the assistance of Quran-burning clergymen."
