This week, a colleague brought to my attention that a gentleman in Florida is planning to, along with a group of his fellow congregation members, burn copies of a religious book that he and his compatriots have ordered from online bookstores (perhaps there isn't an Islamic bookstore in Gainesville). At this time, I feel compelled to comment.
Let me preface that I consider myself a person of faith - more specifically faith in God rather than faith in people. On March 05, 1982, I found myself appear in the geographical location of the birthing unit of a public hospital in Cadillac, MI in the United States of America. I was born to parents who, mostly from my mother's influence, raised me in a Midwestern, Christian family tradition and instilled within me a set of deeply rooted values that shape my character and interactions with others daily. I was educated for 21 years in American public schools(inclusive at all levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary) that instilled within me a love for reading, the benefits of dialogging to understand, and a curiosity for truth.
Truth. Now there's a complex word only in that defining the meaning of the word is simple, yet proving what is truth is an entirely different matter. Mr. Jones in Florida believes the Qu'ran to not be truth while 1.5 billion Muslims believe it is the truth, with the authority of God through Gabriel and the prophet Mohammed (pbuh) to be truth. According to the USA Today, Mr. Jones believes that Muslims are nice people, yet Islam is the devil. Mr. Jones wants to burn the Qu'ran because it comes from the devil, and as good Christians, we should all strive to counter the devil. If the book of the devil is burned, then the devil himself is burned. That's pretty straight forward logic, if you ask me. However, like any logic puzzle, an assumption must be set and established, like a keystone, in order for the rest of the information pieces to fit nicely together, and in sum, providing support to the keystone.
Mr. Jones' assumption is that the Qu'ran is from the devil. 1.5 billion others assume that it is from God himself. In the second assumption, Mr. Jones' actions do not fit the keystone because in burning the text, he would be burning the word of the Lord. And if the word of the Lord is assumed, by Mr. Jones and Muslims alike, to be the ultimate authority, then his actions, given this shared assumption of authority, are a defilement to himself and his Lord.
In the past two years, the faith in Christ that my mother nurtured in me beginning on that wintry day in March of '82 has been questioned. These questions have come from conversations that I've had with students, colleagues, friends, other Christians, and even myself. In many of these conversations, the question of "rightness" emerged, like a sticky piece of bubble gum sticking to a dress shoe. Argumentative conversations that spin inside themselves, touting the logical nature of one religion over another and dismissing the authority of certain messengers from God yet praising others. And just when I feel my head exploding and my soul imploding, a calmness spreads inside me, reassuring me that in this mortal life that I live, I will never have sharp enough eyes to witness, nor an expansive enough mind to absorb and process enough knowledge, nor the physical body to endure to definitively search and find the correctness of God.
American political and social culture encourages people to stand up for what they think is right. Mr. Jones thinks he's right, and he has the right to say what he thinks is right. He has the right to act on what he believes to be right, even if it disrespects a nation of people, a body of faith, or God Himself. As a product of the American system, he knows this. As a product of the American system, all its citizens know this, yet we cringe because we know that the rest of the world does not understand this, as they haven't been exposed to or have internalized our "Constitutional freedoms" like we have, having been geographically placed in the US since birth. How can we explain to the rest of the word that we allow the not ideal in order to live for a common ideal?
Through grace and faith, God shows us what He wants us to see and understand. On this evening before Eid Al-Fitr and these two nights before the ninth anniversary of September 11th, I pray for Mr. Jones and his fellows. May God grant them the ability to look into their hearts and see their intentions; may the Holy Spirit fill them, allowing God's will to be done, not the will of an insecure and scared man. I also pray for those who may misunderstand Mr. Jones' actions. May God be a balm to their hearts and minds so as not to divide His children anymore than we've allowed ourselves to be divided. Prayers of peace.
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