Yearly Archives: 2010

“He who has ears, let him hear.” ~ Matthew 13:9

It is no surprise to anyone who spends any time at all with me that I seem to have a hearing problem. My wife would probably say that it’s her most loathed quality about me. She isn’t being cruel about a physical disability because the hearing problem I have has more to do with my attention than my ability.

A perfect example of how this plays out is on the ride home from work each day. My wife and I will be in a conversation and it will come to a lull. At this point I start thinking about what I need to get done, listening to something on the radio, or just starring aimlessly out the window. That’s when it happens.

I’m not exactly sure at what point it happens and that’s the problem. She has already spoken a few sentences to me and I’m just tuning in. What did I miss? I have no context and so I have to ask her to repeat herself. This never goes over well. Especially since I seem to do it almost daily.

I wonder if I do that with God. Am I so preoccupied with my own stuff that I miss entire conversations with Him? Am I so distracted by the busyness of my own life that when I finally tune in I’ve already missed half of what He said? Perhaps the problem is not my ability to hear but what I allow to so wholly capture my attention.

Now before you skip right to the end and leave hate comments, hear me out. I’ve thought long and hard as to whether I should write this post or not. It’s a sensitive topic and I get that. Perhaps, if you are like me, the thought of any kind of book burning sounds ludicrous.

I tried to play devil’s advocate and see things from both sides, I have thus created my top reasons why a Qur’an book burning might not be as bad as some of us thought.

1. It’s Good for Book Burning Christians Because It Shows Progress - For a period of almost two hundred years (only eight hundred short years ago), Christians throughout Western Europe were involved in what we know as the Crusades, in which many Christians burnt living Muslims. At least now it’s only their Holy Book. It’s nice to see we’ve grown up some.
2. It’s Good for Muslims Because It Exposes a Simple Truth - Muslims aren’t the only ones with wacko factions that do things that embarrass and shame those trying to prove we aren’t all crazy. To my Muslim friends, you and I aren’t that different; let’s grab a bite to eat and lament the silliness of others in our faith.
3. It’s Good for NON Book Burning Christians Because It Takes Focus Off of Our Own Shortcomings - Let’s be honest: as long as there are crazy Christians burning books and banning everything, no one will notice whether or not I’m a gossip, a liar, a cheat, or just a plain pain in the you-know-what. When stacked next to these people, we all look like saints, even if we are in total disobedience to God.
4. It’s Good for Church Seekers Because it Narrows the Focus – If a church hosts a book burning, then its obvious they aren’t the church for you. Thank you book burning churches, you’ve made the decision for countless seekers just a little bit easier.
5. It’s Good for Humanity Because it Reveals the Mercy of God - If someone was going around using my name to do crazy things like burning books, there is no telling what I would do. But God hasn’t destroyed them yet, so that’s good for all of us who do crazy things both in and not in his name.
6. It’s Good for the Economy Because it Increases Cash Flow - All these people who think burning the Qur’an is such a good idea probably don’t have a stockpile in their closets for just such an occasion. That means they have to go buy them. The bookstore that was struggling to stay in business just got a surge of patronage. Which brings up another point…
7. It’s Good for the Qur’an Because it Probably will Fund it’s Next Printing - With bookstores everywhere selling out of the Quran publishers will see a need to increase production. Soon there will be dozens of Qur’an’s in every bookstore and maybe one in every home. Can someone say “Best Sellers List”?

So, as you can see, although the idea of a Qur’an book burning seems like one of the most ridiculous things someone could do, it’s not without its merits.

Now it’s been back and forth as to whether any Qur’an burnings will take place or not but if they do I hope this list makes you feel a little better about it. And if it doesn’t I invite you to print one hundred copies of this and have a blog post burning in protest because that is a completely logical thing to do.