Learn Not Burn: the local interfaith community’s response to the hate speech of Pastor Jones and his allies

At Learn not Burn each of us received a copy of the Quran, which now stands on my book shelf. Photo: Virginia Bergman 

At least 12 people, including U.N. staff, were killed in Afghanistan recently in a protest against the March 20th Koran burning in Florida.

The AFP reported the Koran burning on March 21:

A controversial US evangelical preacher oversaw the burning of a copy of the Koran in a small Florida church after finding the Muslim holy book "guilty" of crimes.

The burning was carried out by pastor Wayne Sapp under the supervision of Terry Jones, who last September drew sweeping condemnation over his plan to ignite a pile of Korans on the anniversary of September 11, 2001 attacks.

Sunday's event was presented as a trial of the book in which the Koran was found "guilty" and "executed."

The jury deliberated for about eight minutes. The book, which had been soaking for an hour in kerosene, was put in a metal tray in the center of the church, and Sapp started the fire with a barbecue lighter.

The book burned for around 10 minutes while some onlookers posed for photos. [Agence France-Presse, 03/21/11]

The incident and its violent aftermath reminded me of an interfaith event titled Learn Not Burn that a friend and I attended at Hamline University in St. Paul last fall in commemoration of Sept. 11 in response to the unholy threats of Pastor Terry Jones.

As I reported elsewhere, Learn Not Burn was facilitated by Bishop Aya (Professor Rosalyn Carroll) and Ms. Megan Diamond. The event was co-sponsored by the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice at Hamline and the Ambassadors for Peace, Universal Peace Federation, Minn. 

Participants represented several different religious traditions including Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Unification Church; accordingly, the event opened with a multi-faith prayer.

Speaking later, Megan Dimond urged her listeners to focus on what unites us, not what divides us. She said, “The attacks on one faith are attacks on all faiths.”

In keeping with the event’s title, Learn not Burn, each member of the audience received a copy of the Qur’an and the booklet, Discover Islam, the Reader.

At Bishop Aya’s bidding, old and young – several Hamline students were present - we each extended a hand to our neighbors and said, “I love you.”

For the closing words, we formed a circle around the auditorium and held hands.

Discussing the experience afterward, my friend and I wondered that at the core of most religions is a version of the commandment to love our neighbor, and yet there seems always to be so much divisiveness.

Of course, unlike Pastor Jones’ attention-grabbing threats, positive interfaith activities such as Learn not Burn, organized to promote understanding at home and abroad, are usually under-reported.

For information about ongoing interfaith activities in St. Paul, check out the St. Paul Interfaith Network.