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Gainesville UUs respond to Qur’an-burning threat
When the Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., started to receive worldwide publicity for designating September 11 as “International Burn a Qur’an Day,” the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville knew that it had to respond. The 300-member fellowship rallied, working with the Muslim community and other interfaith partners, to create a message that would counter Jones’s. The result was a series of programs in Gainesville that included worship services, Qur’an readings, a protest march, and an interfaith gathering promoting peace, hope, and understanding.
Although Jones called off the Qur’an burning on September 9, the Gainesville interfaith community went on with its programming. Congregation president Judith Kendall wrote, “Even though the Qur’an burning had been ‘suspended,’ Gainesville UUs felt it was important to continue the work toward unity with other faith traditions that has begun.”
The first event was an interfaith worship service held on Wednesday, September 8, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Greek Orthodox clergy led more than 300 participants in prayers and hymns calling for peace. Readings came from the Qur’an, the Bible, and the Torah. Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe spoke, urging tolerance and solidarity across religious lines.
On Friday, September 10, Trinity United Methodist Church hosted a “Gathering for Peace, Understanding, and Hope,” offering participants a menu of activities derived from a wide range of religious traditions, including a space for meditation, votive candles for prayer, an outdoor labyrinth, a bread table as a widely shared religious symbol, and children’s arts and crafts activities.
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