Four unrelated events took place last week—three of which I was involved in and one that I had nothing to do with—and as I look back on them, I find that they are connected in some interesting ways.

Let’s begin with the one I had nothing to do with. On March 20, months after pledging to not do so, Terry Jones, the pastor of a small, non-denominational church in Gainesville, Florida, publicly burned a copy of the Koran, the holy book of the Muslim faith. The Rev. Jones held a mock “trial” and found the Koran guilty of five “crimes against humanity.”

The stunt went largely unnoticed in the United States for a couple of weeks (thanks, apparently, to the uncharacteristic restraint and good sense of the American media) but protestors in Afghanistan became aware of it last week and, looking for a symbol of the west, overran a United Nations building killing seven UN workers, none of whom were Americans.

The second event was a funeral service that I was asked to participate in. Amy, a woman in her 90s had died, and because part of her family is Methodist and part Buddhist, the request was for me to co-officiate with a Buddhist priest. We each shared prayers and rituals from our faith traditions in order to make the service meaningful for all of the family gathered there.

The next evening we took the confirmation class from our church to Temple Beth Tikvah, the synagogue in Fullerton, to experience a Shabbat service. Rabbi Kenneth Milhander and his congregation greeted us warmly, included us in the service and spent time with us afterward explaining aspects of the Jewish faith and showing us several of their eight Torahs (four of which survived the Holocaust.)

Two days later a large number of our youth, along with eight adults, went to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. There we learned more about the Holocaust as well as freedom of speech and the tolerance and intolerance that has existed in the world throughout history.

Unfortunately, intolerance still exists and it seems to me that the Rev. Jones and his congregation exhibited a tremendous amount of insensitivity in their ill-advised burning of a copy of the Muslim holy book. From my point of view, it’s just a book. For that matter, so is our Bible, as I tell the third graders every year when we present them with their own Bibles. The Bible is a tool; it’s intended to be used, and while the message inside may be holy, the paper and ink and faux leather cover are not. But clearly many Muslims believe that the Koran in and of itself is sacred. Why would someone who professes to be a good Christian intentionally offend people of another faith by his or her actions? What on earth did they intend to accomplish?

At the same time, I want to affirm that the Rev. Jones had the right to do what he did, because the U.S. Constitution protects free speech. But having the right and doing the right thing are sometimes miles apart.
As for the other experiences, I am proud of the youth in our church and their willingness to learn about other faiths and their eagerness to be open to the fact that God is revealed in many ways and there are many pathways to knowing God. Our Christian faith may be right for us but it doesn’t mean that it has to be right for everyone else. I am so grateful to be part of a denomination that teaches tolerance and openness to our children and youth.
The lesson of the Holocaust and the lesson of the mobs in Afghanistan is the same: intolerance has consequences and innocent people often suffer them. And we, as the human race, are worse off whenever that happens.

When a Jewish lawyer asked Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan, placing the most hated enemy of the Jews into a position of goodness and right behavior. It’s a sobering reminder to us as Christians that all people are our neighbors no matter where they live or how they worship.

Grace and peace to you!

--Brent Criswell