To Pastor Terry Jones Re: Qur'an burning to commemorate September 11th ( attached to a petition)
I'm sure you can tell by now, just how hard 9/11 has hit me. Over the course of 9 years I have written at least one new piece of writing for September 11th, to express my sadness... and to try to show what little bright side there is: that the attacks brought us together and that we are stronger than one fanatic and his hate mongering. For one brief moment, we were unified. We helped each other, protected each other, cared about each other... as people. No one seems to care that the WTC brought people from all around the world together, and that those that perished in the attacks were not just Americans, and that both saddens and scares me. Missing, or ignoring that glimmer of hope for a future of peace means that we become victims. I was so inspired by the fact that race, religion and other social barriers were erased in the midst of such a horrific crisis. That is the message I choose to take from that day. I hope others will start to see it too...
Here is the petition I signed Re: the International Burn a Koran Day, http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/condemn_terry_jones/index2.html?rc=hlinko_20100909_Koran_a1 -- I urge everyone to sign it.
Below, is my own personal message to the Pastor who is planning this burning, which I was allowed to include when signing the petition:
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The message of this petition does not even BEGIN to represent the degree of my of sorrow, disgust, and outright horror at your plans to burn Qur'ans on September 11th. You incite hatred, racism, and religious ire (most likely just for the publicity), the exact things that should be completely excluded when remembering the victims of 9/11.
The 9/11 attacks were a totally unbiased attack on American soil. Osama bin Laden didn't CARE who was amongst the casualties, just so long as it caused widespread damage (physical and emotional/psychological), incited fear, and lit a spark of hatred underneath us. Thus the four thousand people who died were of ALL religious and ethnic backgrounds. Burning Qur'an's is the last thing you should be doing. It's exactly that attitude that fuels the tensions between the US and Middle Eastern countries, and exactly what Osama bin Laden wants in the long run.
The only dignified way to remember the victims of the attacks is to do so privately, in solemnity. September 11th was a horrific, sobering day for everyone. By pegging one religious group as the 'enemy' (and not even acknowledging that it was a HANDFUL of fanatical practitioners of Islam who perpetrated the attacks), and provoking them by desecrating their holy text, you ensure that acts like 9/11 will continue well into the future.
While I understand the basic, feral frustration at feeling helpless to have prevented the attacks, you must know, as a pastor, that mixing religion and anger is one of the most dangerous things one can do, especially if you are preaching to others. I would hope that in your studies of the Bible, you have come to understand the main ideas: compassion, love, peace, brotherhood and tolerance-- and that that is what you teach in your sermons...
I thank you if you have read up to here, or at all. Though I am not religious, I pray that you come to understand the true meaning of your responsibilities as a servant of God, and take drastic actions to undo or renounce any malevolence of this nature you have provoked previously...
Shalom.
Emily
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Obviously, I know that my words are probably going to fall on deaf ears-- he probably won't even read the petition, let alone my note... but I just felt... in the core of my being, that I had to say something, so that other people know that I am paying attention...
Here is the petition I signed Re: the International Burn a Koran Day, http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/condemn_terry_jones/index2.html?rc=hlinko_20100909_Koran_a1 -- I urge everyone to sign it.
Below, is my own personal message to the Pastor who is planning this burning, which I was allowed to include when signing the petition:
---
The message of this petition does not even BEGIN to represent the degree of my of sorrow, disgust, and outright horror at your plans to burn Qur'ans on September 11th. You incite hatred, racism, and religious ire (most likely just for the publicity), the exact things that should be completely excluded when remembering the victims of 9/11.
The 9/11 attacks were a totally unbiased attack on American soil. Osama bin Laden didn't CARE who was amongst the casualties, just so long as it caused widespread damage (physical and emotional/psychological), incited fear, and lit a spark of hatred underneath us. Thus the four thousand people who died were of ALL religious and ethnic backgrounds. Burning Qur'an's is the last thing you should be doing. It's exactly that attitude that fuels the tensions between the US and Middle Eastern countries, and exactly what Osama bin Laden wants in the long run.
The only dignified way to remember the victims of the attacks is to do so privately, in solemnity. September 11th was a horrific, sobering day for everyone. By pegging one religious group as the 'enemy' (and not even acknowledging that it was a HANDFUL of fanatical practitioners of Islam who perpetrated the attacks), and provoking them by desecrating their holy text, you ensure that acts like 9/11 will continue well into the future.
While I understand the basic, feral frustration at feeling helpless to have prevented the attacks, you must know, as a pastor, that mixing religion and anger is one of the most dangerous things one can do, especially if you are preaching to others. I would hope that in your studies of the Bible, you have come to understand the main ideas: compassion, love, peace, brotherhood and tolerance-- and that that is what you teach in your sermons...
I thank you if you have read up to here, or at all. Though I am not religious, I pray that you come to understand the true meaning of your responsibilities as a servant of God, and take drastic actions to undo or renounce any malevolence of this nature you have provoked previously...
Shalom.
Emily
---
Obviously, I know that my words are probably going to fall on deaf ears-- he probably won't even read the petition, let alone my note... but I just felt... in the core of my being, that I had to say something, so that other people know that I am paying attention...