Burning Books and September 11

Date Published: 09/12/2010

“A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly.” (Acts 19:19)

With all of the attention the small congregation in Florida has gotten for threatening to burn copies of the Quran, I thought about the people of Ephesus who had been practicing magic and burned their books when they turned to Christ. Though book burning has come to be a symbol of fear laden intolerant and ignorant totalitarianism, it is reported in Acts 19:19 as a sign of faith and the totality of conversion. I have heard it used as a president for getting teens to burn their rock-and-roll records (a little more dramatic than deleting MP3 files).

Right off the top of my head, disposing of something that is a spiritual snare to you seems quite different than a public spectacle to protest something you disagree with or find offensive. The ancient Israelites were regularly commanded to destroy idols and other accoutrements of pagan worship, which today we would probably consider to be the destruction of valuable archeological and cultural artifacts. Even Christians objected to the Taliban destroying the giant Buddhas in Afghanistan on that basis.

Probably thanks to the huge media attention they have both received, the so-called “ground zero mosque” and the “international Quran burning day” have become linked. This exposes the collision of several important American values: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, tolerance of diversity. If these had not offended so many volatile sensitivities, an abstract application of freedom of religion and freedom of speech would suggest both the so-called “ground zero mosque” and the “international Quran burning day” should have proceeded with minimal attention. This raises the question of the boundaries of American tolerance for diversity.

However, my commitments as a Christian far out rank traditional American values. Nevertheless, as a Christian I appreciate and value freedom of religion and freedom of speech as conducive to practicing and articulating Christian faith. I also appreciate and value the diversity of expressions of Christian faith, but I really don’t want to be associated or identified with some who claim to be motivated even commanded by “Christian” principles do things I find utterly inconsistent with Jesus, such as publicly burning Qurans. This is not to say that some people didn’t find Jesus offensive, but those who were offended by him were the most outspoken defenders of theological and moral orthodoxy of his day and not the pagan Romans who were occupying Israel at the time.

Christians in the United States have differing understandings of freedom of religion and freedom of speech, but their differences of opinion about tolerance for diversity stretch their common identity in Christ, sometimes to the breaking point. For the Church’s first three centuries and in much of the world for much of the history since then, Christians have been a marginalized and often maligned minority. Whether Christians should tolerate even bizarre alternatives and competitors was never the question; the issue has usually been how to get non-Christians to tolerate Christians. For Christians to be in the seat of cultural power determining the limits of tolerance for diversity is not only an historical but I believe a theological aberration.

Authentic evangelism does not depend on defeating non-Christians militarily, culturally or intellectually. Coerced conversion is hollow if not fraudulent. I have come to believe that an effective Christian response to Islam (or any other alternative to Christ for that matter) depends on understanding why it appeals to people, what need in their lives is met by embracing it? When we respect the spiritual yearnings of people, we can offer Jesus as the one who can satisfy those yearnings much more effectively. Of course, that means that Jesus is meeting my deepest yearnings, and I am not seeking my satisfaction in any human invention, even the American dream.

So as an American, I am most reticent to forbid the burning of books as an expression of free speech. As a Christian I want to be absolutely clear that intentionally offending non-Christians is not only inconsistent with the character of Jesus, it is evangelistically counterproductive. I may need to dispose of influences in my life and home that are spiritually harmful to me, but I must never treat what someone else values disrespectfully as a way of insulting them.

As an American, I am most reticent to limit the practice of other religions, including the building of a mosque at any site where a Christian church could be built. It is axiomatic that rules that are put in place to limit non-Christian religions are often turned around to limit Christians. Nevertheless, I understand that for many of my fellow citizens Islam is so closely identified with those who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 that the “ground zero mosque” seems an insult to those who died there (even though many of them were Muslims). However, as a Christian I want to treat Muslims the way Jesus and the Apostles treated the Gentiles of their day, with a respectful and winsome invitation to a new way of life. If I was giving advice to the imam of the “ground zero mosque,” I think I would suggest that seeking another location would help Americans have a more positive attitude about Islam, just as I would suggest that Christians should repudiate “international Quran burning day” to help Muslims have a more positive attitude about Christ.