A sign in front of a Baptist church on one of the most travelled highways in North Carolina stirred controversy over religious tolerance and first-amendment rights this weekend.
The sign outside Danieltown Baptist Church, located at 2361 U.S. 221 south, reads “The Koran needs to be flushed,” and the Rev. Creighton Lovelace, pastor of the church, is not apologising for the display.
“I believe that it is a statement supporting the word of God and that it (the Bible) is above all and that any other religious book that does not teach Christ as savior and lord as the 66 books of the Bible teaches it, is wrong,” said Lovelace. “I knew that whenever we decided to put that sign up that there would be people who wouldn’t agree with it, and there would be some that would, and so we just have to stand up for what’s right.”
Seema Riley, a Muslim, who was born in Pakistan and reared in New York, was one of those upset by the sign. She moved to Rutherford County for the “small town friendly” atmosphere, she said. When she saw the sign on the side of the highway Saturday she felt angered and threatened. “We need a certain degree of tolerance,” said Riley. “That sign doesn’t really reflect what I think this county is about.”
She said that according to Islamic faith, a follower does not even touch the Koran without going through a ritual cleansing. Muslims believe the physical book to be a sacred item that is treated with respect and reverence, much like the image of Jesus in Christianity, according to a report on National Public Radio.
“For someone to put that sign up – the person just didn’t understand – didn’t take into consideration what putting up that sign means,” said Riley. “I don’t think it should be posted on a sign in public viewing on the highway to create a hostile environment for me.”
The appearance of the sign follows a national news story from last week. Newsweek magazine retracted a story reporting that military guards at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay flushed a copy of the Koran down the toilet during interrogation of a detainee. The Newsweek story sent Washington in a frenzy and was blamed for igniting Muslim riots and deaths abroad, including a particularly violent outburst in Afghanistan.
“Our creed as a Christian, or a Protestant, or a Baptist church – of course we don’t have a creed but the bible – but we do have the Baptist faith and message that says that we should cling to the 66 books of the Holy Bible and any other book outside of that claiming to know the way of God or claiming to be God’s word is automatically written off and is trying to defeat people from the way of true righteousness inside of our viewpoint in how we view the word of God,” Lovelace said.
Update: It seems that Rev. Lovelace has now backed down. See “US pastor apologizes for anti-Islam church sign”, Islam Online, 26 May 2005