Open Letter from Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz to Pastor Terry Jones

September 8, 2010

Pastor Terry Jones
Dove World Outreach Center
5805 Northwest 37th Street
Gainesville, Florida 32653

Dear Pastor Jones:

As a New York State Senator, the President of the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, and the pastor of a Pentecostal Church I am writing this letter to you to express how offended I am about your vow to set fire to the Koran on September 11th.  I am glad that the National Association of Evangelicals also condemns your plans.  Please do not do it!

The Ninth Anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks will be marked in New York by elected officials, Pentecostals and other religious leaders joining in prayer.  None of us will forget 9-11.  We will remember the lives of those who were killed and the acts of courage by those who sacrificed their lives for others. We will pray for the troops who fight to preserve our freedom.

We will not participate in your International Burn a Koran Day!

Although blasphemy and hate speech may not qualify as crimes in the United States, we know it is wrong.  As an elected official and a religious leader I know the pain of such acts.  

Like many, I believe that religious symbols, places of worship and sacred books such as the Holy Bible, the Torah and the Koran deserve to be respected.  I would be deeply offended even by the image of the Holy Bible being burned. It is deeply offensive to me, to my fellow Pentecostal ministers, and to many of my constituents that you are calling for a day to burn the Koran.  

Please call it off!

Sincerely,
Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz
32nd Senatorial District
900 Rogers Place
The Bronx, New York 10459
(718)991-3161