Sentinel Watch May 30, 2011 Issue

Religious tolerance and a ‘flameproof’ faith

Phil Davis

The burning of a Quran in the United States, and the violent reaction that resulted in deaths in Afghanistan, are deeply disturbing to me and many others. At this writing the protests and threats of violent repercussions continue.

I’ve asked myself how I would feel if the Bible or my companion textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, were burned. I wouldn’t like it, for sure. But it isn’t the physical form of those books that I hold sacred as much as the ideas they contain. It’s those cherished ideas and how I put them into practice that are most sacred to me. The enduring love for God and love for others, which my faith, Christian Science, has taught me simply couldn’t be destroyed by burning the books from which I received those ideas.

Actually, what really concerns me far more is the deep hostility and intolerance that are the cause of such inflammatory action. I’m not just talking about the burning of the Quran, but the terrible, violent reaction to it. Both need to be addressed. I love Psalm 46 in the Bible, which in the face of enraged, destructive thought, counsels: “Be still, and know that I am God” (verse 10). By this calm trust in God, Jesus was able to walk untouched right through an angry mob (see Luke 4:28–30).