Source & Credit: Islam Examiner
By Qasim Rashid | July 28, 2010
I have just been informed that Islam is of the Devil. That is, at least according to Pastor Jones at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida. I must have missed the part of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount when he said, "Blessed are the bigots, for they shall cause disorder in the Earth."
But seriously, in his vain attempt to 'attack' Islam, Pastor Jones has only succeeded in proving that he knows nothing about Islam. This is, of course, not surprising. However, it is quite surprising that a Christian Pastor would prove himself to know nothing of Jesus Christ, as Pastor Jones has proven.
Therefore, I would like to take a moment to remind Pastor Jones of Jesus' actual teachings...just in case he forgot. Hopefully after this reminder, he will also follow in Jesus' footsteps and promote love, not incite discord.
Lesson 1 for Pastor Jones: If you hate Islam and consider it your enemy, Jesus requires that you love Muslims, bless Muslims, do good to them, and pray for them.
"But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)
However, Pastor Jones doesn't quite meet that criteria. He does say he loves Moslems, but hates Islam, as it is of the Devil. I'm not sure what Pastor Jones' definition of "doing good to others" is, but I'm quite certain the Q in "BBQ" does not stand for Qur'an.
Lesson 2 for Pastor Jones: Jesus requires that you love your neighbor as you love yourself, and places this commandment right after celebrating the shining Unity of God Almighty.
"The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." (Mark 12:31)
Pastor Jones misses the mark here. With millions of Muslims living in America, and certainly many living in Florida, Muslims are the neighbors of millions of non-Muslim Americans—some of whom are, you guessed it, Christians. Though many Christians in America love Muslims as they love themselves, Pastor Jones is working hard to ensure his love is only lip service, and not something that can be mistaken as sincere love.
Lesson 3 for Pastor Jones: The Golden Rule requires you do unto others as you would have done unto you.
"Do unto others as you would have them do to you." Luke 6:31
However, Pastor Jones misses this criteria as well. I am quite certain he would be, rightfully, upset if anyone organized a Biblical bonfire. Such a thing would be ignorant, barbaric, juvenile, and well, you get the idea. So why do something to Muslims you would not like done to you?
We hope the above three lessons help Pastor Jones realize what Jesus truly taught, and inspires him to try something different and actually follow Jesus' teachings for once.
What Islam teaches about Jesus:
Rather than go into a long discussion explaining all the ways Islam honors, loves, and celebrates Jesus Christ, much of the information I would provide is already available in my previous article: Five Things Every Christian Should Know about Islam.
Read original post here: Christians burn the Koran: A Muslim responds
Qasim Rashid is a contributing member of Majlis Sultanul Qalm, USA (MSQ USA) and regularly writes for Examiner.com and various other publications on topics ranging from Islam to human rights. Leave your thoughts and comments, or email Qasim at 1muslim.examiner@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments. Any comments irrelevant to the post's subject matter, containing abuses, and/or vulgar language will not be approved.