History Repeats itself...

"They that start by burning books will end by burning men."
--Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), from his play Almansor (1821)

I heard this quote from the history channel who referred to the author as a prophetic playwright. Many years later this man's works would be added to the many other renowned authors that the Nazi's would burn and destroy. It really got me to thinking about about the church in Florida and their burning of the Quran this September 11th, 2010.

Now keep in mind I am not an extremely educated man. I graduated from high school and even took a couple of online writing courses, but never had a desire to go to college. I am not the most eloquent writer or the best at anything really. I always feel like I'm struggling just to keep up. But deep down since I was a youth living in the farmlands of Tennessee I have always had a feeling of tolerance. I'm not really sure where it came from exactly. I certainly was not around tolerant people growing up. Part of me believes that God put it in me from a young age. I have always had a deep desire to stand up for the rights of others regardless of their faults or flaws. I could never stand seeing people picked on or hurt maliciously for any reason.

God showed me in my high school years that I had no reason to judge another human being. I was imperfect and had no right to pass judgments against others nor harbor prejudices in my heart. That doesn't mean I haven't done so in my life, especially as I have gotten older. The world can be a pretty nasty place at times and it's easy to blame other people for all the problems of the world. Honestly, I haven't really kept up with anything outside of my own little world for many years now. Ignorance is bliss right? At times it truly can be. But my self-inflicted isolation is slowly melting away as I sense a growing urgency to be a conduit for change. I'm beginning to see the world for what it is and I want to be a vessel for good in this world.

With that said I want to address the actions to be performed this Saturday by the church in Florida, the burning of the Quran. Really? This is what Christians have resorted to? Don't get me wrong. I understand that people were lost tragically and families and friends were hurt on September 11th, 2001. I do not deny the pain and heartache that others have felt at the hands of violent individuals. We should always honor the memories of those lost by such horrible crimes. But really, what would the saints who have gone before think of this act committed in the name of Jesus Christ? Just because you tag the Lord's name to an action does not mean that he endorses it. What about the actions of the KKK? They sought the backing of the protestant church and got it! The KKK persecuted blacks, jews, catholics and any other immigrants because they felt they threatened their white supremacy. It's so funny that they tried to back up their harmful actions with public displays of good deeds. Is it just me or isn't that very similar to what the Pharisees did in the days of Jesus? And what did Jesus do to those Pharisees? He rebuked them and their teachings!

According to my Bible God has always been more concerned with the heart of man than the rules that they follow. Jesus' death was a sacrifice to reconcile man with God. God knew that man could never be good enough on his own to achieve his own righteousness so Jesus died so that those who believe in him could become the righteousness of God. I'm definitely not a biblical scholar nor do I read my bible as much as I would like, but that doesn't mean I've never had any instruction in the word of God or that I've never done my own personal study. You can't fight hate with hate, it doesn't work.

God told us how to fight evil. He told us to overcome evil with good. He told us that we are to turn the other cheek. When Peter asked Jesus how many times are we to forgive our brother who has sinned against us Jesus made it quite clear we are to never stop forgiving the sins of others against us. I know it's cliché and easy to use these verses when nothing terrible has happened to us. But we have all had our earthen brothers sin against us in one way or another. God never fave us excuse to hold a grudge against anyone. That doesn't mean that we can't be angry or hurt by the actions of others. Of course we will be it's a part of life, but we are not to let the sun go down on our wrath. We have to let stuff go! I've heard so many stories of persecuted Christians around the world who have forgiven their captors, jailers, executioners and those who have killed their families. It can be done. It is not impossible. We only have to be willing. We are all in control of our own actions and whether or not we hold a grudge against another person. Aren't we all called to be tolerant of and to love others or was Jesus just kidding when he said, “Blessed (enjoying enviable happiness, spiritually prosperous- with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the makers and maintainers of peace, for they shall be called the son's of God (Matthew 5:9, Amplified Bible).?”

The nation of Islam is a people that God placed on this Earth for a purpose. He loves them as much as he loves the white folk, the Native Americans who were in this country before them. And whom our ancestors very nearly completely destroyed. The African Americans who the white folk used and sold as slaves. The Jewish people whom the bible refers to as God's chosen people who have been persecuted for as long as anyone can remember. And so on and so on. All men are created equal and in God's eyes there is no difference in Gentile or Jew or man or woman. Have we Christians really so lost our way and the teachings of Jesus that we would persecute our brothers with whom we must share this Earth? Are there not sects of Christians who give Christians a bad name? It is only natural there would be sects of Muslims who give all Muslims bad names. Let's not pass that judgment when God has not given us the authority to do so. There is only one Judge and that is God. Nearly everyone on God's green Earth has been persecuted against for being who they are or what they believe, Christians are not excluded. But even Christian persecution was never a valid excuse for any kind of revenge.

“...Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:44-46, NIV).”

Let's stop telling our children that it's okay to hate and then tagging Jesus' name onto it; otherwise we may see another dark era of persecution and attempted genocide as history does what it does best, repeat itself.