This issue looks at why Bibles were burned while Korans were saved.
SINCE YOU ASKED

Now that the fury over the plan to burn Korans on 9-11 seems to have subsided, it”s worth attempting to see the big picture. The military and the President weighed in, claiming that the event, if carried out, would spark a violent response by Muslims worldwide. While these statements were true, let”s try to put things into perspective.
 
About a year ago, the U.S. Military confiscated and burned boxes of Bibles that had been sent by a church in the U.S. to one of the troops at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Since the Bibles were printed in Pashto and Dari, two of the most common Afghan languages, the military assumed they would be used for proselytizing, which is forbidden to troops. The air base at Bagram is home to thousands of troops from all U.S. military branches. Most of the troops never leave the base and are in various support roles for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
 
Lt. Col. Mark Wright defended the burning on the grounds that distributing these Bibles would endanger American troops and civilians in the area. “Furthermore,” he said, “troops in war zones are required to burn their trash.”

AS I SEE IT

Once again, the claimed retaliation was probably accurate, but that”s where my agreement with any part of this story stops. Why do the military and the President go overboard not to offend Muslims (whom the military is fighting) while remaining silent regarding protecting the rights of Christians?

Why can a military spokesman refer to the Bible as trash to be burned without suffering any repercussions, while talk of burning Korans causes all hell to break loose?
 
The answer lies in the fact that everyone knows that Christians will not respond as Muslims do when their religion is maligned. This is because when it comes to living out your faith, Islam and Christianity are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Islam, following the example of Muhammad, has been spread by the sword. True Christianity, as taught by Jesus Christ, is spread by loving those around you into the kingdom. Christians don”t attack their enemies, they pray for them. Yet, while we are to be innocent as doves, we are to be wise as serpents. This means that Christians are not to fall for the enemy”s deceptive tactics as we contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3). Practically, this means that we are not to sit idly by as all that we hold precious and dear is being taken from us.
 
So, what are we supposed to do? Do we need a new battle plan to combat the very real Islamic threat? I have given this a lot of thought and have concluded that the Church simply needs to finally start acting like the

Church, doing the things we”ve always been called to do, while loving our Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
 
Christians should not be surprised at the injustices we experience. Christ warned us that things would be like this and would get worse as we approached “the end.” We are called to fight the good fight in the hope of one day hearing, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
 

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

Sign on a repair shop door:  WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. PLEASE KNOCK HARD. THE BELL DOESN’T WORK.

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