05/25/05

When I was an undergraduate at Southern Illinois University, a couple of born-again Christians passed out pocket-sized Bibles near the entrance of the student center. I took one, and so did a friend of mine, a Christian who apparently had some unresolved issues. He walked over to a nearby garbage can and spiked the Bible into the bin. I didn't like what he did. So I reached into the trash, took out the Bible, cleaned it off, and decided to keep it in my care. It was the first Bible I ever had. To this day, more than 25 years later, I've kept a Bible on my bookshelf. It is both logical and natural for the desecration of scripture to rouse strong reactions, whether it involves the Bible or the Koran, the scripture of my own faith. ... Contempt shown to the Koran, for example, may be viewed as an insult to Islam and Muslims worldwide...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0525/p09s01-coop.html

from Christian Science Monitor, by Ibrahim N. Abusharif


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp