The church in Florida which has gained notoriety for planning to burn copies of the Qur'an on 9/11 as an "outreach" to Muslims has been denied a burn permit by the city of Gainesville.
In Gainesville, burn permits are not given for book burnings, according to Gene Prince, Interim Fire Chief.
The church, however, has now decided that in this case the law does not apply. On Wednesday, the church sent out the following email response: "City of Gainesville denies burn permit — BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS."
This decision is now doubly out of line with the Gospel of Jesus. For in addition to the various spiritual reasons for not doing it (which can be found HERE), there is also the Biblical teaching that unless the Government is actually forcing the believer to violate God's law, it is to be respected and submitted to:
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."
(Rom 12:17-18)
"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."
(Rom 13:1-7)
The church's desire to burn Qur'ans does not constitute Christian ethical grounds for disregarding civil law. Unfortunately, it seems that the mentality of this group is one of martyrdom and persecution as they seek to be true followers of God--despite the fact that such behavior does not in any way reflect the One whose name they are invoking.
Comments
An "outreach" that burns the sacred writings of another religion? Sounds more like an act of hatred and prejudice to me, and totally inconsistent with the teachings of Jesus.
He only has himself to blame if a Bible is desecrated anywhere in the Muslim world
Well, no true Scotsman would burn books either.
;)
Hi evry1 i'm really pleased to c intellectuality which can only be gained if u love your religion and respect others ... as Islam is a religion of peace but terrorism. I guess such act will provoke extremism and already we the muslim world been dejected on several points on the name of terrorism.. cause of a group of extremist , which i believe is extreme due to conspiracy of Devil minded people devastating countries for their materialistic benefits and certainly why the innocent people of other countries have to pay for the act of such people.I do Condemn such act. But i feel this act of Disrespecting D Most Holy Book of Not Islam ,, its For All religions believe you me,i mean it will cause real problem please not just protest ..help these who are occupied by Devil .. "May Allah help them and not let them curse themselve"
As much as I detest book burning, I think that this church has a point (about the applicability of the burn permits, only). Whether we like the message that this church is presenting or not, book burning in this context is rather obviously a form of political expression that is protected by the First Amendment of our Constitution. The lesson here? In a free country, jerks have rights, too.
this act of hatered is unacceptable. every major religion in this world teaches tolerence and peace. if these people go ahead with their paln then they are no better then those terrorists of 9-11. they are doing the same thing as those terrorists i.e using religion as an excuse n also for their own benefit.
may allah made them realize what they are doing and save them from a great wrath. ameen. live n let live n do not provoke others.
yee: "if these people go ahead with their paln then they are no better then those terrorists of 9-11"
Burning a book is (in my opinion) despicable. But, equating a book burning to an attack that resulted in almost 3,000 deaths is patently rediculous.
excellent news! in islam, it is acceptable to burn the koran. in fact, if you want to get rid of the koran, it is required (by sharia law!) to burn the koran. keep in mind that these people claim to know islam better than any muslim.
islamists agree with this koran burning as it is in accordance with sharia law. i guess this is more of the "islamization of the west!" the next thing you know the sharia law is going to be fully implemented in america.
what a bunch of suckers!
Muslims, Jews, and Christians all come from the same mold. They all three have their roots in Abrahamic tradition, they all three have Semitic roots, and they all three worship the same God, though they call It by a different name. so what appears to be happening is that God must be at war with Itself.
Ben, you're equivocating. Origin does not equal identity. Nor does God equal those claiming to follow God. Your comment makes for a cute sound byte, but is really simplistic and comes across as naive to those who are familiar with the actual origins, history and doctrines of the Abrahamic religions.
Judaism, christianity and islam are far more similar, both in docrine and history, than they are different.
there are alot of flaws in your logic and Biblical reasoning, but I'll start with this......you said.....
"...there is also the Biblical teaching that unless the Government is actually forcing the believer to violate God's law, it is to be respected and submitted to"
quick Biblical counter-example which is at odds with your statement......
St. John the Baptist openly criticizing "King" Herod. Herod was not forcing St. John the Baptist to violate any of G*d's Laws. Yet, St. John the Baptist publicly denounced Herod.
But let's assume your statement is correct, then therefore you must be consistent and criticize all (or almost all) civil disobedience ever undertaken by Martin Luther King. The segregation and denial of voting rights that Blacks were subjected to (however "unjust" it may have been - and that's arguable) in no way forced Blacks to violate any of G*d's Laws. So by your logic, MLK was not justified in most/all of his illegal activities.
Finally, FYI: flag-burning and cross-burning are both protected forms of free speech. Furthermore the Supreme Court always rejects laws which are selective and pretextual in nature when essentially designed to frustrate the exercise of free speech. Therefore if a permit was denied for a book burning but allowed for the burning of other items (like a pep rally bonfire) then the Supreme Court would consider that as a pretext and find that distinction to be invalid. So the real question is: Do the local authorities ever give permits for the burning of other objects and are they being selective here in order to stop book burnings specifically (I'll bet you $1,000 they are). If so, not valid. In that case, they are the ones not submitting to authority, not the local church in question.
This is insane. All moslems world wide will believe the Alkiada teaching that America hates Islam and this will only help them gain more followers. Every American will now be in danger. All our troops in Moslem countries will be in danger. What does this ignorant preacher think he is gaining. Too bad we dont have a law against stupidity.
Are they retarded? Do they really believe this shit that they are preaching? Do they think that they are following their religion by burning the Koran. From what I remember of the bible there was a verse that read "Love you neighbor like thy self". Neighbor means a person who necessary does not live next to you, but a person you meet in a shop in the mall etc..
The bible teaches love, Jesus taught people how to love. It was Saturn who taught people to murder others. Its the Saturn in your church who is teaching you how to murder. Not all popes and priests are man of God. They are simply men; who have in many instances been elected (politically) or maneuvered their way into their positions. In other words they may well be men of Saturn.
Ignorance is evil. And their acts are evil. Learn Christianity and then preach.
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