After receiving volumes of negative feedback over a sign carrying a disrespectful message about the Koran outside the church where he is pastor, Creighton Lovelace has apologized for his actions and says he will remove the sign.
In a statement released May 25, Lovelace said he “did not realize how people of the Muslim faith view the Koran – that devoted Muslims view it more highly than many in the U.S. view the Bible.”
“Now I realize how offensive this is to them, and after praying about it, I have chosen to remove the sign,” he said. “I apologize for posting that message and deeply regret that it has offended so many in the Muslim community.”
Lovelace is pastor of Danieltown Baptist Church in Rutherford, N.C., which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The portable display in front of the church read, “The Koran needs to be flushed.”
The sign was an apparent reference to a Newsweek article, since retracted, that alleged U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had placed copies of the Koran in washrooms and had flushed one down the toilet to get inmates to talk. The article incited deadly riots in Afghanistan and caused large protests in Muslim countries worldwide.
In his apology, Lovelace said his intentions were to remind people of the importance of the Bible, not to show disrespect to another religion’s holy book.
“When I posted the sign in front of the church, it was my intent only to affirm and exalt the Bible and its teachings,” he added. “It was certainly not my intent to insult any people of faith, but instead to remind the people in this community of the preeminence of God’s Word.”
Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, expressed disapproval of the sign May 24, noting that Southern Baptists seek to relate to Muslims in a respectful manner conductive to the mutual sharing of beliefs.
(BP)
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