Communal harmony
I am sure that I am not the only person who was appalled by the prospect of a single, independent and obscure American congregation, burning a copy of the Holy Qu'ran, on September 11th. This church is not connected to ANY major Christian denomination and this action has NO official Christian sanction at all, even within the USA, never name the world. Despite the hurricane of protest from those of all religions and none - plus government (e.g. Hilary Clinton) and secular authorities - this misled congregation may, unfortunately, go ahead with this action that has rightly been called 'unnecessary, offensive and dangerous'.
As a Christian, I must not only add my own objection to this action but point out that the vast majority of Christians believe that the biblical and Christ-like way to protest against the persecution that some Christians have suffered from some Muslims in some countries is by speaking the truth in the power of God's love, and by extending that love even to those Muslims who are hostile to us. In that context it can never be justified to destroy a book that Muslims regard as sacred.
There could be dreadfully destructive consequences of the proposed Qu'ran burning for Christians in Muslim-majority communities. 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 there shows this is not an idle threat. Christians in numerous other places, who live in daily fear of potentially deadly attacks, will at once be placed in much greater danger. Iraqi Christians (about half of whom have fled the country in response to threats and violence) have expressed great concern. Some churches have links of friendship with America and may, falsely, be assumed to approve of everything and anything that goes on there. Christian leaders, world-wide, are pointing out that it cannot be right for Christians in countries that have the freedom to protest, to do so in a totally unacceptable way that puts at risk the lives of other Christians in other countries.
In any case, do not all human relationships involve a measure of disagreement but is that any reason for us to abuse one another? Everyone has to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable!
Let all people of goodwill unite in prayer that hatred and violence will NOT overcome the mutual respect and tolerance that is slowly growing between people of all faiths. Bangladesh, with both its tradition and its constitutional promotion of tolerance towards minorities, should understand this perfectly.
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