Pastor's agreement to call off 9/11 Koran burning beset by confusion

Pastor Terry Jones said he would cancel his planned Koran burning and travel to New York to discuss the location of the mosque near ground zero. But it's unclear what has been agreed to.

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Also on Thursday afternoon, Jones received a telephone call from Defense Secretary William Gates. The Defense secretary told the pastor that he was concerned his Koran-burning protest might incite violence and endanger American service members.

A day of concern in Washington

The call came after a day of growing concern within the White House, Defense Department, and State Department over potential international fallout from any Koran burning. The White House issued no formal statement about the cancellation, but the issue dominated the White House press briefing earlier in the day.

Initial reaction to the cancellation was more relief than happiness. “God works in wonderful ways, and it’s gotten people to talk about Islamophobia,” said Ahmed Rehab, spokesperson with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Mr. Rehab added: “The burning of the Koran is a serious offense…. You won’t find a Muslim burning a Bible or a Torah.” The spokesman said, “Frankly, there’s no good reason to burn anybody’s sacred text. If you don’t like it, then debate it, but don’t burn it.”

Jones’ plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks hadn’t gone entirely as planned.

He organized his “International Burn a Koran Day” in part to raise awareness among Christians to take a stand against what he views as a violent, intolerant, and expansionist Islam. But instead of rallying Christians, his planned book burning triggered an outpouring of condemnation and concern around the world, including calls for solidarity – rather than division – among religious faiths.

Faiths unified to condemn protest

Earlier this week, a group of 35 religious leaders met in Washington and issued a joint statement denouncing what they called “the anti-Muslim frenzy” over the mosque near ground zero in New York. The group also called the planned Koran burning “a particularly egregious offense that demands the strongest possible condemnation.”

The statement continued: “As religious leaders we are appalled by such disrespect for a sacred text that for centuries has shaped many of the great cultures of our world, and that continues to give spiritual comfort to more than a billion Muslims today.”

Speaking at the event, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said religious leaders must not stand in silence when events like these unfold.

“I have a great fear that the story of bigotry, the story of hatred, the story of animosity to others is going to be taken by some to be the story of the real America, and it’s not,” Cardinal McCarrick said. “This is not America. This is not our country.”

Many religious groups took issue with Jones’ version of Christianity.

“If Jones and his followers go through with their plans to burn the Koran they might as well burn some Bibles too, because they are already destroying the teachings of Jesus,” said Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a network of social justice Christians.

“Jesus called [on] his followers to be peacemakers, and to love not only their neighbors but even their enemies,” Mr. Wallis said.

• Staff writers Brad Knickerbocker, Linda Feldmann, and Ron Scherer contributed to this report.

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