Do Unto Others
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5: 44
The Bible tells us, “As ye would do that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” In other words, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Bible does not say do unto others as they do to you. Unfortunately, that’s the way Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., interpreted the scripture.
Jones first made headlines when he declared Sept. 11th International Burn a Koran Day, in observance of the 9/11 attacks. He was persuaded to rethink his plans and cancelled the burning. However, once out of the spotlight, Jones reverted to his old ways. On March 20th, he carried out his Koran burning, presiding over a mock trial of Islam and then burning a Koran in some sort of portable campfire.
The news took awhile to get around to Afghanistan, but once it did, at least eight U.N. aid workers and four others were killed April 1 in a riot at a compound in the city of Mazar-e Sharif. Protesters burned cars and shops. In Kandahar, rifle- and Koran-bearing protesters marched through the streets, carrying their Korans over their heads. Media reports indicate an imam at the Mazar-e Sharif’s central mosque encouraged worshippers to take action against the Quran burning.
The Islamists have burnt plenty of Bibles and murdered plenty of Christian missionaries; they hung the burnt bodies of Christian missionaries from a bridge in Baghdad. They come here freely to proselytize Islam; if Christians go to a Muslims, it's a capital offense. Jones has an understandable, if severely misguided and totally wrong-headed, see-how-you-like-it attitude. That is not the mature, adult way, to say nothing of the Christian way, to deal with one’s enemies.
Burning their book isn't the way to win converts and influence people, either. It was a foolish and unnecessary thing to do. While I find the actions of Muslims in places like Afghanistan offensive in the extreme, nothing can be gained on our part by retaliating. I’ve been reading Sayyid Quttb’s tome, “Social Justice in Islam.” Anyone who believes a bridge can be built between Christianity and Islam is a fool, a liar, or a dreamer. But, more on that and the 12th Imam/the Anti-Christ tomorrow.
The Islamists are what they are. Let us not become what they are.
The Bible tells us, “As ye would do that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” In other words, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The Bible does not say do unto others as they do to you. Unfortunately, that’s the way Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., interpreted the scripture.
Jones first made headlines when he declared Sept. 11th International Burn a Koran Day, in observance of the 9/11 attacks. He was persuaded to rethink his plans and cancelled the burning. However, once out of the spotlight, Jones reverted to his old ways. On March 20th, he carried out his Koran burning, presiding over a mock trial of Islam and then burning a Koran in some sort of portable campfire.
The news took awhile to get around to Afghanistan, but once it did, at least eight U.N. aid workers and four others were killed April 1 in a riot at a compound in the city of Mazar-e Sharif. Protesters burned cars and shops. In Kandahar, rifle- and Koran-bearing protesters marched through the streets, carrying their Korans over their heads. Media reports indicate an imam at the Mazar-e Sharif’s central mosque encouraged worshippers to take action against the Quran burning.
The Islamists have burnt plenty of Bibles and murdered plenty of Christian missionaries; they hung the burnt bodies of Christian missionaries from a bridge in Baghdad. They come here freely to proselytize Islam; if Christians go to a Muslims, it's a capital offense. Jones has an understandable, if severely misguided and totally wrong-headed, see-how-you-like-it attitude. That is not the mature, adult way, to say nothing of the Christian way, to deal with one’s enemies.
Burning their book isn't the way to win converts and influence people, either. It was a foolish and unnecessary thing to do. While I find the actions of Muslims in places like Afghanistan offensive in the extreme, nothing can be gained on our part by retaliating. I’ve been reading Sayyid Quttb’s tome, “Social Justice in Islam.” Anyone who believes a bridge can be built between Christianity and Islam is a fool, a liar, or a dreamer. But, more on that and the 12th Imam/the Anti-Christ tomorrow.
The Islamists are what they are. Let us not become what they are.
posted by Belle | 10:32 AM
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