Christian minister, Reverend Mark Sandlin has written an open letter to the anti-Muslim hate pastor Terry Jones who intended to burn 3,000 Qurans to mark the anniversary of 9/11.
Jones was unable to carry out the act because he was arrested for the unlawful conveyance of fuel and possession of an open firearm earlier this week.
Dear Terry Jones,
I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written but, let’s face it, you’ve been a very busy man with all the Qurans and the burning and the getting arrested. You probably wouldn’t have had time for my letter and that’s okay, I understand. I do hope, however, you’ll make a little time for this one. Why? Because I want to thank you.
You probably don’t get much love from us progressive Christian minister types and I’m sorry about that. After all, God is love and we are called to love everyone, even our enemies (how crazy is that?). So, you can think of this as a love letter – an awkward spiritual “bromance”, if you’d like.
You see, the last time I wrote you was exactly three years ago. Time flies, huh?
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I had just heard about your plans to burn Qurans and decided to write you a note about it. After writing it, I thought I’d encourage other folks to do the same. So, I wrote a blog post about it, tweeted it out and shared it on Facebook. Much to my amazement, it took off like wildfire (my apologies for the pun).
As a matter of fact, that post was the first post EVER on TheGodArticle.com. Yes, YOU helped launch one of the most popular progressive Christian blogs online. Thanks.
You can only begin to imagine my surprise when, on the three-year anniversary of The God Article, I hear about your arrest and yet another attempt at burning Qurans. Your timing is impeccable. I have to give you that.
So, I want to thank you! And even though it’s the birthday of my blog, I want to give you a gift (and maybe some others will want to join in).
It is my hope, my prayer even, that in time you may see more clearly exactly how unloving of an act burning the sacred texts of our Abrahamic brothers and sisters (or any book for that matter) is. As I understand it, this time alone you’ve ruined almost 3,000 Qurans by soaking them in kerosene.
So, here’s my gift to you. In hopes of offsetting, to some small degree, the regret you will surely experience one day, I am purchasing Qurans on your behalf and making sure they get to those who’d like to read it!
Nice, huh? You. Are. Welcome. Can’t you just feel the love?!
If we are really lucky a lot of my friends will do the same and we can replace all 3,000 of the ones that were lost this time and then some!
PEACE!
Rev. Mark Sandlin
Mark Sandlin also stated at the bottom of his blog piece:
“If you would like to help replace the Qurans that were destroyed, I encourage you to donate to The Quran Project (or to a similar project of your choosing). Even a few dollars can help buy new Qurans, so don’t hesitate to give what you can. You could even buy them yourself and hand-deliver them to a local mosque! For that matter, if you attend church, ask your church to join in. The more the merrier! This really is a great way to thank Terry Jones and to apologise to our Abrahamic brothers and sisters for what one of our own has done to their holy text”.
Reverend Mark Sandlin is a minister in the Presbyterian Church in the USA. He is the founder of the God Article website and a blogger for The Huffington Post.
