A pastor in Florida wants to celebrate the 9/11 anniversary of the Muslim attacks on the World Trade Centers by burning the Quran. Reactions to this have come in from all over the world, and the great majority of them condemn his plan. Why? Because they know of the violent reaction that Muslims will most likely produce. In all the articles I read about this, there was a faint appeal to what is “decent.” But the main concern was Muslim retaliation. Think about this, when the US military burned Bibles belonging to American soldiers serving in Afghanistan, there was no outcry.¹http://www.onenewsnow.com/Security/Default.aspx?id=516980 Why is that? It is because the Bible teaches that Christians are to be peaceful whenever possible. But the Quran, on the other hand, teaches violence.

• The Qur’an tells Muslims to kill and go to war to fight for Islam: Surah 2:191; 2:193; 3:118; 4:75, 76; 5:33, 8:12; 8:65; 9:5; 9:73, 123; 33:60-62.
• Fight for Allah: “And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers” (Quran 2:191).
• Muslims are to battle for Allah: “Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. Lo! the devil’s strategy is ever weak” (Quran 4:76).
• Kill those against Islam: “The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter” (Quran 5:33).
• Beheading: “When thy Lord inspired the angels, (saying): I am with you. So make those who believe stand firm. I will throw fear into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Then smite the necks and smite of them each finger. 13That is because they opposed Allah and His messenger. Whoso opposeth Allah and His messenger, (for him) lo! Allah is severe in punishment” (Quran 8:12).
• Slay non-Muslims: “Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (Quran 9:5).
• Allah urges war: “O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination” (Quran 9:73).
• Allah urges war: “O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil)” (Quran 9:123).
• Allah urges killing: “…the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease and the agitators in the city do not desist… 61Cursed: wherever they are found they shall be seized and murdered, a (horrible) murdering. 62(Such has been) the course of Allah with respect to those who have gone before; and you shall not find any change in the course of Allah” (Quran 33:60-62).
• Allah loves those who fight for him. “Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure” (Surah 61:4).

So, is the news media around the world concerned about burning the Quran based on morality, religious truth, and tolerance? Or is it because the world is very familiar with the violent nature of Islam? Consider these quotes:

1. “A spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan tells CNN: “If in Florida they were to burn the Quran, we will target any Christians, even if they are innocent, because the Quran is our holy book and we do not want someone to burn our holy book.”²http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/09/quran-burning-reaction-pours-in-from-around-the-world/
2. Petraeus spoke Wednesday with Afghan President Karzai about the matter, according to a military spokesman Col. Erik Gunhus. “They both agreed that burning of a Quran would undermine our effort in Afghanistan, jeopardize the safety of coalition troopers and civilians,” Gunhus said, and would “create problems for our Afghan partners . . . as it likely would be Afghan police and soldiers who would have to deal with any large demonstrations.”³http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Quran-Burning-clinton-bloomberg/2010/09/08/id/369616
3. It is the duty of Muslims to react,” said Mohammad Mukhtar, a cleric and candidate for the Afghan parliament in the Sept. 18 election. “When their holy book Quran gets burned in public, then there is nothing left. If this happens, I think the first and most important reaction will be that wherever Americans are seen, they will be killed. No matter where they will be in the world they will be killed.”⁴ibid.

Only time will tell to what extent the violence, if any, is perpetrated by Muslims upon Christians all over the world for something they have not done or of which they may even disapprove. But the Muslim threats before, and the unfortunate retaliations after the Quran burning, should be a very strong warning to all of us that at the heart of Islam is a violent, highly intolerant, bigoted⁵Bigotry is “stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own,” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bigotry). religious system.

I must ask, will the Muslims in their Islamic countries decry the burning of the Bible when it happens? Of course not. If Muslims burned the Bible in Iran, Saudi Arabia, or any other Muslim dominated country, would Christians who happen to live there be safe in protesting? Hardly. The hypocrisy and incredible bigotry of the Islamic world are obvious to all who don’t hide behind political correctness.

We do not want to see anyone injured. We believe that peace is a better way to persuade than violence. But we believe this because that is what the Bible teaches us, in particular, the New Testament. This is why Muslims want Christian-based freedoms for them while they are in the United States. It makes it easier for them to exist, to spread Islam, and then when they are strong enough, to start making demands. But, would anyone expect those same Muslims to work for equal freedoms for Christians in their Muslim-dominated societies? I for one would expect hell to freeze over before such an event ever took place.

Is Islam a good religion? No, it is not. It seeks the domination of the world and the imposition of Sharia Law. It cannot stand in harmony with the United States Constitution, and it seeks to destroy all political and social systems, not in agreement with Quranic principles.

I am not sure about the wisdom of burning the Quran. It is probably a bad idea, given the volatile reactions we’ve seen from Muslims in the past who regularly threaten people with death for what they perceive are highly offensive actions. Still, I wholeheartedly agree with the right to express religious freedom.

Finally, there is at least one good thing resulting from this whole incident dealing with the burning of the Quran. It is that more and more people are being made aware, yet again, of the violent and intolerant nature of Islam.

Update

The pastor in Florida, Rev. Terry Jones, stated he would not burn the Quran. I think this was a wise move on his part, not because he doesn’t have the right to do so, but because of the irrational Muslims everywhere who would kill innocent people, especially Christians, all over the world if Mr. Jones would have burned the Quran. Wake up! Muslims know they can use the sword and the threat of the sword to get their way. We peaceful people seek peace. The Muslims use this desire to push their agenda.