GAINESVILLE, Fla. (ABP) — Religious leaders in Gainesville, Fla.,
recently stood together on the steps of the town's City Hall in a show
of solidarity against a small congregation in the community that has
gained international attention for its plan to burn copies of the Quran
on Sept. 11.
Greg Magruder, senior pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Gainesville, was among 20 religious leaders from three faiths and multiple denominations who denounced the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center's planned "International Burn a Koran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Magruder, whose church is aligned with both the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Southern Baptist Convention, said Baptists have historically stood for religious freedom for everyone.
"Therefore, I stand with my Muslim, Jewish and Christian friends here today and plead on the basis of all our sacred texts that the Gainesville community commit to love God, love your neighbor and promote religious liberty for all," Magruder said at the Sept. 2 press conference. "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
Magruder also endorsed an earlier statement by the Christian Pastors Association of North Central Florida denouncing both the scheduled Quran burning and death threats made against members of Dove World Outreach Center in response.
"The CPA supports religious liberty for all, including for those with whom we disagree," the ministerial group said. "While we also do not agree with the teachings of Islam, our attitude toward individual Muslims is love and goodwill."
Dove World Outreach Center, a small non-denominational charismatic congregation founded in a quiet northwest Gainesville neighborhood in 1986, gained international attention after Pastor Terry Jones encouraged people to burn the Quran as a reminder of 9/11 and as a warning about the spread of Islam.
Richard Land, head of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called the proposed action "appalling, disgusting and brainless." He said the burning would "besmirch the reputation of our Savior, and that makes it blasphemy."
"To be blunt, there is no justification for burning or desecrating anyone's sacred and religious texts, period," Land said in a Washington Post online chat session Sept. 7.
Jones, who has written a book titled Islam is of the Devil, remained undeterred after United States and NATO commander Gen. David Petraeus warned the church's threat to burn copies of the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Americans worldwide.
Florida Baptist Witness Editor James Smith editorialized against International Burn a Koran Day Aug. 24.
"Islam is a false religion whose adherents tragically will be justly damned to an eternal hell by God for their rejection of Jesus as his Son," Smith wrote. "Yet, while evangelicals need to stand for the truth that salvation is only in Jesus Christ and against the damning religion of Islam, desecrating the holy book of Islam is no way to oppose this false, harmful religion."
-30-
Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.
Related ABP story:
Kentucky Baptists plan alternative to Quran-burning ceremony (9/8/2010)