Having expressed my wish that a mosque not be built within a mile of Ground Zero, I feel obligated to ask, pray and beg Pastor Terry Jones and his congregation at the Dove World Outreach Center to read the Koran rather than burn it on September 11th. Huffington Post first reported this story after Jones appeared on "Hardball" with Chris Mathews.
The Old Testament in The Bible condemns many groups of people and has often been abused by mad men throughout the centuries to harm people. Isn't it possible that you are misinterpreting the Koran and Sharia law? Have you sat down with a group of American Muslims and asked them to explain the sections that so trouble you?
Although I may wish the Imam Feisal Rauf locate his mosque elsewhere in New York, he certainly has the right to locate it wherever he chooses. I hoped that Muslim Americans might see my side -- because 9/11 remains an open wound in my heart. If you burn a single Koran on 9/11, you will cause me more pain than any mosque near Ground Zero will ever cause. We are Americans, Pastor Jones. Aren't we better than terrorists who seek to destroy others?
If your group burns a single Koran on September 11th your group will become the terrorists. Any message you think you are sending is only an invitation for groups that already dislike us to hate and despise us. You will dishonor every American who died that day (whether they were Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist or Agnostic).
How can your church seethe with so much hatred that you would destroy a sacred text? Do you want Bibles to go up in bonfires in the Middle East and other parts of the World. If you hold our Bible sacred, you will stand down and not light a single fire. Please heed the words of General Petraus and stand down to protect our troops that are overseas fighting for your free speech and freedom of religion.
Did Jesus suffer on the cross so that those who call him "Lord" might one day be so filled with hate that they tried to initiate the Book of "Revelations"?
If you think foreign nations have a poor opinion of Americans now, wait till you light that match. I pray that you will dream of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and our other forefathers. Do you think this is why our nation was founded based on free speech and freedom of religion?
Please do not do this. I have read and heard reports that prayer has guided you to want to burn The Koran.
I will be praying that you realize that evil has been placed in your heart. Jesus came from a place of love. Satan thrives on hate and destruction.
I will be praying that no working lighter or match can be found in Gainesville, Florida or in any community that takes up your call for destruction on September 11th.
I will be praying that you open The Koran and seek what we have in common with our fellow Americans. Please do not sully the memory of the people who died on September 11th by burning a single Koran.
I hate seeing an American flag burned, but I would sooner see you burn Old Glory, than desecrate the Koran and give those that already hate us a reason to harm us or our fighting troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of the World.