Tampa religious leaders say it's 'not enough' to simply ignore Quran burning

TAMPA - As a Gainesville preacher gets ready to desecrate the Quran in a September 11 bonfire, members of Tampa Bay's faith community are standing up to Pastor Terry Jones.

"It's not enough just to not participate in it, but I think you have to stand up and condemn it and you have to say, it's wrong," said Jonathan Ellis.

Ellis is the president of the Tampa Jewish Federation, but he says the letter he helped pen with Rabbi Marc Sack, president of the Tampa Rabbinical Association, is written for everyone.

Titled "Stand against the book-burners," the letter says "it is our sacred duty to stand with all good people, from all religions, against this shameful act." The missive is resonating with other religious leaders around Tampa.

"He (Jones) has crossed a line because part of the message of Christianity is forbearance to go the extra mile to turn the other cheek," said Reverend Andrew Heyes, with St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Tampa.

Reverend Heyes said his congregation is talking about tolerance too and tells ABC Action News the topic will be part of his Sunday sermon.

Both men agree burning a holy book is not the answer, and they are asking you to stand with them.

"Rarely do you see - when you start burning books - that that's the end of an action. It's usually the beginning of an action. It's usually inciting people to violence or feeding on undeserved fear," said Ellis.

The entire text of the letter:

Stand against the book-burners

We, the members of the Tampa Rabbinical Association, and the leaders of the Tampa Jewish Federation, were very distressed to learn of the planned "Burn a Koran Day" on Sept. 11 at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville.

As Jews, we have a tragic history of watching bigots and fanatics burn our books, and we know that very often book-burning is the beginning, not the end, of provocation and violence against a people. We also know the pain which is added to a terrible situation when others remain silent in the face of such awful intolerance. And so we feel it is our sacred duty to stand with all good people, from all religions, against this shameful act.

It is both factually and morally wrong to blame all Muslims for the 9/11 attacks, and to assault their religion through the desecration of their holiest book. We cannot remain silent as their sacred scriptures are burned, nor can we accept the demonization of an entire religion because of the terrible acts of a minority from that religion.

We pray that the organizers of this travesty will desist from their plans, as we pray that our Muslim friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members know that these fanatics do not speak for the rest of us.

Rabbi Marc Sack, president, Tampa Rabbinical Association, and Jonathan Ellis, president, Tampa Jewish Federation, Tampa