September 11, 2001. Can anyone not remember what they were doing when they heard about the attack by Muslim extremists on the United States? I certainly remember. I was working in the shop listening to the machinery cutting lumber for a piece of furniture. I had to make a phone call to a company with which I was doing business and was greeted by a lady sobbing. When I asked her what was wrong she seemed incredulous that I was not watching the news and she told me what was happening.

On that horrific day consumed by those horrific events all we could think about was the tragic loss of life and who could have possibly carried out such an attack. We soon learned that it was a radical Muslim organization called al Qaida. Most of us had never heard of al Qaida before or at least it was just some organization in the background noise of the news. Today it is a household discussion item.

Many atrocities have been perpetrated over the centuries in the name of Mohammed and Allah. These include individual acts of terrorism such as the assassination of Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch film maker who had “insulted” Islam in film and the beheading of Daniel Pearl because they thought he was trying to spy on them. Obviously, we can name countless examples of their mass terrorist acts in addition to the September 11, 2001 attack.

You will never hear me try to defend a religion that advocates the destruction of non-believers of Islam. However, as Christians, we must remember and follow the teachings of Christ. There is a church in Gainesville, Florida that is planning a mass burning of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attack. There have been death threats on the pastor and I'm sure others of the church. Numerous US and international organizations have urged that the event be cancelled. It has been my observation that when someone is bent on making a very public statement and advertises the event, no one can talk them out of it. However, I would entreat all Christians to remember that this is not in accordance with Christ’s view of His church.

We have been taught to love our enemies, not incite them. As Christ said “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:44-45) I would submit that an appropriate celebration of the 9/11 attacks would be a gathering for prayer to ask God to work in the hearts of terrorists and all Muslims so that they may see where their salvation truly lies.

This pastor in Florida is putting himself and his congregation in the crosshairs of any radical who wants to make a name for himself as a defender of the faith. Besides placing his membership in danger, the pastor is possibly leading some young man to do something that will damn him forever and start him down the terrorist path. This is definitely counter to Christ’s teachings.

All this having been said, assuming the Koran burning takes place I would urge all churches to be alert to the possibility of sympathetic Muslims in the local community taking it upon themselves to retaliate against the nearest target, the local Christian church. We can have very little, if any, impact on the Florida pastor and his membership but we can strive to keep our local Christian family safe. Those with security teams may want to lay on additional personnel to increase the visibility of the security team. Visibility can be an effective deterrent.

Dan Lanotte