The head of a world evangelical umbrella group lauded recently the international censure from world leaders against the shelved Quran burning on 9/11, and asked for the same global outcry on behalf of Christians who are imprisoned, tortured and killed because of their faith.

Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, international director of the World Evangelical Alliance cited the global outcry which included an appeal from President Barack Obama, and condemnation from both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the United Nations, against the 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida’s scrapped plan to burn copies of the Quran, The Christian Post said.

However, violence by anti-West and anti-Christian extremist Muslims cannot be expected to abate, and some Christian leaders said such acts of provocation are not necessary to goad some radicals, The Christian Post reported.

Faith McDonnell of the Institute of Religion and Democracy told The Christian Post, “Every day, Christians in Indonesia, Pakistan, Sudan and elsewhere in the Islamic world face oppression and persecution brought about without the assistance of Quran-burning clergymen.”

Tunnicliffe told The Christian Post it is not just extremist Muslims who persecute Christians, citing radical Hindus in India who since 2008 committed serial violent acts against Christians leaving 70 dead, over 4,000 Christian homes burned, 149 churches destroyed, and rendering 54,000 Christians homeless.

Also in 2008 hundreds of copies of the New Testament were burned in Or Yehuda, Israel upon provocation from the deputy mayor. Recently in Sri Lanka churches were razed to the ground, Pastors were killed, and radical Buddhist politicians have sought strong restrictions on Christian churches, The Christian Post said.

“Are actions only deemed wrong when there is a good chance that the victims, or those connected to them, will react in violence?” Tunnicliffe asked The Christian Post. IRD’s McDonnell said the most at risk by the scrapped Quran burning plan are, ironically, Christians in Muslim-dominant locations.

“Just as we do not hold all Muslims responsible for the September 11 attacks, Muslims should not hold Christian minorities responsible for the actions of one tiny Florida church,” McDonnell told The Christian Post.

“Will leaders react with the same kind of justifiable outrage as they have against the proposed burning of the Quran?” Tunnicliffe asked The Christian Post. “If so, will they have the courage to speak up, not only out of some concern for reciprocity or a fear of repercussions, but because it is the right thing to do?”

Tunnicliffe told The Christian Post that WEA condemned the scrapped burning because “it was simply the right thing to do,” and to prevent violence from extremists similar to what was experienced in 2005 by the Danish.

That year, a Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons depicting Islamic prophet Muhammad. As a result, some 150 people around the world were killed and thousands were injured, The Christian Post said.

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Christian leaders in Indonesia met recently with the leaders of a Muslim extremist group to censure the plan of a church in the U.S. to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11.

Bishops from Protestant and Roman Catholic churches met with Habib Riezig, the leader of the extremist Islamic Defender Front (FPI) at Cikini II, Central Jakarta to engage in friendly dialogue and to boost understanding, AsiaNews said.

The meeting was also attended by Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi (president, Inter-religious Commission of the Bishops Conference of Indonesia [KWI]), Rev. Andreas Yewangoe (head, Indonesian Protestant Christian churches of the Synod [PGI]), and Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta (KWI Secretary General), AsiaNews said.

The intention was to hopefully avoid violence that may result from the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center’s proposal to make Sept. 11, 2010 “International burn a Koran Day.” The move was initiated to protest the attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, AsiaNews said.

Dove’s leader, Pastor Terry Jones, is known for media-grabbing moves including distributing t-shirts that say “Islam is the devil,” and writing on his blog, “Ten reasons to burn a Koran,” AsiaNews said.

The initiative has been condemned by Christians and Muslims all over the world. Last Aug. 27, some 100 Muslims gathered in front of the U.S. embassy, Jakarta and threatened to retaliate severely if Dove burns any Korans, AsiaNews said.

Participants in the meeting noted that what Dove is doing is not representative of Christians, and particularly those Christians who are living in Indonesia. Bishop Mandagi expressed best wishes to Muslims and said he felt “strong regret to have learned of such provocative actions that want to strike our Muslim brothers,” AsiaNews said.

Pastor Yewangoe also condemned the action which he noted was only being done by a small group of Christians in the U.S. Yewangoe exhibited a letter that would be sent to U.S. President Barack Obama, requesting that the initiative is stopped or cancelled, AsiaNews said.

Rizieq said he was grateful for the sympathy that was shown by the Christian churches and called the meeting an important move towards reconciling differences through dialogue. Rizieq said, “Nothing is impossible through dialogue,” AsiaNews said.

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Claiming on their website that they are “a new testament church, based on the bible,” the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., tends to attract media attention by engaging in activities that rank high in shock effect.

On Monday, the group plans on holding a protest against Gainesville’s first gay mayor. In the past, they had held up signs saying, “No homo mayor,” The Huffington Post said.

On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the church plans on celebrating the tragedy by burning the Quran.

Last year on its front lawn they put up signs that said “Islam is of the devil,” which left residents aghast, causing some to say the message is hateful, The Christian Post said.

A number of Christians question the methods of this church believing it conveys more hate than love, but Dove’s senior pastor Terry Jones is nonplussed.

He says Christian critics should “stop criticizing and find another way to raise awareness about Islam or to share the Gospel,” The Christian Post said.

Jones authored a book called “Islam is of the Devil” and admits that protests are one of the key missions for his church. He says the goal is to warn, and help Muslims to convert, the Religious News Service said.

Jones said people have been giving him Qurans to burn. The idea for burning Qurans, he added, partly came from a Facebook page which called for an “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,” RNS said.

On Sept. 11, Muslims will celebrate their Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan. Ramzy Kilic, communications director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the organization does not wish to be reactive in how they will commemorate the holiday. They hope to share Islamic traditions and Qurans with churchgoers and the community.

A LifeWay Research survey that was released in April discovered that six out of 10 pastors believe that Christianity and Islam should attempt to live together peacefully in the United States, The Christian Post said.

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