From: Sayyid M. Syeed [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 8:13 AM
To: Mohammed Elsanousi
Subject: Church Distribute copies of the Quran free
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Wasatch Presbyterian Church pastor Scott Delgarno and the board are buying dozens of copies of the Qur'an and having them placed at the King's English Bookstore to give away for free. This is to counter the message of Florida pastor Terry Jones, who burned the Qur'an. In each, they're putting a book mark that says "This book was donated by the leaders of Wasatch Presbyterian Church, who are not afraid of truth wherever it can be found.”
SLC church distributes free copies of Quran
BY KRISTEN MOULTON
The Salt Lake Tribune
First published Apr 21 2011 06:24PM
Updated 6 hours ago
The mainstream media in Florida deliberately ignored the stunt, but when word leaked out — and Jones videos were posted on the Internet — riots erupted in Afghanistan, killing 20 and injuring dozens more.
It was the kind of violent reaction in the Muslim world that the nation’s leaders had predicted last fall when Jones first made his threats.
The pastor has been unapologetic about his role in triggering the violence, and he was in a Dearborn, Mich., courtroom on Thursday, arguing for his right to protest outside a mosque during Friday’s prayers.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Dearborn authorities want Jones to post a bond that would cover law enforcement costs, but Jones demanded a trial by jury and will get one Friday morning.
The imam who persuaded Jones last fall not to burn the Quran, Orlando-based Muhammed Musri, was in Salt Lake City this week to address the Salt Lake City Committee on Foreign Relations.
Musri praised Wasatch Presbyterian’s gesture as the kind of move that will remind people that the radicals don’t represent either religious tradition.
“The voice of the people in the middle — us — is being swamped.”
Delgarno said he borrowed the idea of giving away Islam’s holy book from an associate pastor at his past church, Westminster Presbyterian in Portland, Ore. That church bought — and gave away — the Quran while Jones was making his threats last fall.
“It gave the leadership of the church there a sense of power to do something in the face of that,” Delgarno said. “It seemed all the more important now that the act was done and people have actually died.”
He used a passage from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, 3:7, in his discussion with the board last week. “It says, ‘There is a time to be silent and a time to speak up.’
“We owe it to our faith and to all those who have handed it down to us ... to separate ourselves from those who do, and provoke, violence,” Delgarno said. “Maybe we will inspire an imam somewhere to give away some Bibles.”
Giving away another faith’s holy book, he said, fits well with Presbyterian tenets that emphasize individual conscience and educating one’s conscience.
“It’s not enough just to follow your conscience because it may lead you to, well, burn the Quran,” Delgarno said.
“But conscience aided by education can do remarkable things.”[log in to unmask]
Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed,
National Director
Interfaith & Community Alliances
Islamic Society of North America
Phone 202-544-5656 Fax 202-544-6636
110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 304
Washington DC 20002
www.ISNA.net