Thursday, September 9, 2010

Evil for Evil?

Terry Jones, the pastor at Dove World Outreach Center church has declared Sept. 11 as "International Burn a Quran Day," and added that he hoped the burning of the Muslim religion's holy text "will be as it is intended, as a warning." I think we need more of these pastors during the same thing as the Muslims burn the bible of the christians.


since i first heard about this over the past couple of weeks, a Biblical precept came to mind.  here are a couple scriptures to consider:

Psalms 54:
 4 Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.
 5 He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth.

Romans 12:
 17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.
 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.
 20 Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."
 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.


i personally can not imagine any kind of good would come as a result of attempting to turn 9/11 into an "International Burn a Quran Day".

while i understand that individuals and government (both church and state) now commonly ignore their own laws and principles, some questions fill my mind:  what about the Christian principle Messiah gave to turn the other cheek?  has it been replaced with, "you hit me, so i'll hit you back?"

while i don't condone it, i support the right of individuals to burn things as a sign of protest: flags, books, and yes, albums.  so i'm not suggesting Congress convene to pass any more un-Constitutional legislation which violates our unalienable rights & liberty.

i am just moved to ask proponents of this "International Burn a Quran Day" idea to consider for themselves why they think it's wise to ignore the Biblical principle which plainly teaches to not repay evil for evil...?

the verse, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good," also brings to mind the phrase, "you are what you do".  those who plan to take part in this event might want to consider what fruits they are planning to bear.

8-)

bernard baruch carman
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