IRISH BAPTISTS have condemned the burning of the Koran by fellow Baptists in Florida recently.
In a statement on behalf of the “elders of the Association of Six Principle Baptist Churches” and “the First Six Principle Baptist Church of Ireland”, the Rev David Syms said yesterday that as a church they condemned such burning “without reservation”.
A pastor at Baltimore, Co Cork, he said that “as a church we believe in total freedom of religion and are disgusted by the actions of those who would try to create a hateful situation between people of different faiths”.
He continued: “We believe that we along with our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters believe in the same God as is taught in scripture and we are constantly praying that people of all faiths can live together in peace and harmony.
“We have been working very hard in Washington and in Nigeria to build friendships with the Muslim community in order that we can work together to heal the wounds caused by evil fanatics who represent a small minority of people. Our ministers in Nigeria are now under threat from some of the people whom they had been working with. Our ministers are Nigerian Christians, they are not alone in being in danger.
“We have seen enough hatred in this country over the last 40 years to know the damage that the actions of a [community] divided by hate can cause . . . the murder of Ronan Kerr in Northern Ireland showed us that there are evil people who act on no one’s behalf, are sadly still among us and as a church we condemn this in the strongest way possible.”
He added that the church would never condone the burning of books, especially those held as holy as this was “an insult to God for which we will have to answer when we come to face him”.
