Posted by By J E SOLOMON
“A wise man changes his mind sometimes, a fool never will,” so says a popular proverb. And this was amply demonstrated recently in the socio-spiritual life of Americans to the relief and joy of all peace-loving people of the world.
The Florida Church that had vowed to burn copies of the Quran to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, finally cancelled the ill-motivated event just the day before the scheduled date. It was, indeed, a clear manifestation of reason and divine wisdom prevailing over raw emotions and bigotry.
The leader of the Dove World Outreach Church Center in Gainesville, Florida, Pastor Terry Jones, 58, had sparked worldwide outrage over his decision to burn as many copies of the Islamic Holy Book as would have become available through donations from willing donors. The event was to protest against the building of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York.
As Providence would have it, Pastor Jones honorably backed off from a plan that would have committed his church into doing what obviously could have aroused deep-seated resentment and hatred not only from Muslims all over the world, but also from well-meaning Christians as well.
Now that the crisis is all over and an atmosphere of peace now reigns, American Muslims and Christians alike can now look back and say with pride, and joy in their hearts, that this is a nation of people of goodwill and open hearts.
It is interesting to note that in the wake of the threats by the Florida church to burn copies of the Quran, one Christian organization, the Heartsong Church in Cordona, Memphis in the United States, magnanimously extended a unique offer of assistance to a Muslim organization, the Memphis Islamic Center.
According to a report by WMC-TV filed on September 9, 2010, the Heartsong Church, on learning that the Memphis Islamic Center Complex was being built near their church, gladly put up a banner that said, “Heartsong Church welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the neighborhood.”
As if that was not enough demonstration of their open hearted attitude towards the Memphis Islamic Center, the Heartsong Church also offered their facility to the Muslim group for temporary use while the new Islamic Center Complex was yet to be completed for the beginning of the Ramadan Festival.
It has been said that, “where there is love, there is understanding; and where there is understanding, there is peace.” Surely, the Memphis church may not be the only Christian organization that is truly living the ideals that Jesus Christ enjoined his followers to live by: “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, “Love thy enemies”, etc, etc.
This world has learnt far too many painful lessons as a result of religious fanaticism and sectarian animosity and we certainly cannot afford to allow unguarded utterances and actions that have the potential to foment widespread hatred and acrimony among peoples of different faiths anywhere on the face of this planet.
To Pastor Terry Jones and his Dove World Outreach Church, and all the faceless personalities whose efforts culminated in averting a potentially dangerous situation, I, on behalf of all people of goodwill, wish to express sincere gratitude and more of God’s blessings. This was doubtlessly a victory for divine wisdom, and the whole world is happier for it.