Religious leaders in Gainesville, Florida, have planned a Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope, in response to a local church's International Burn a Quran Day.

"We feel compelled to raise our voices to proclaim that the action the Dove World Outreach Center is proposing is absolutely wrong and counter to the life and teaching of the Jesus whom we love, follow and call savior and Lord," Senior Minister Dan Johnson of Trinity United Methodist Church said, in a note posted on his church's website Wednesday.

As part of the Gainesville Interfaith Forum - made up of Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus - Trinity Church will host the event September 10, the notice said, the night before the planned Quran burning.

"Our goal is to foster understanding, mutual respect and peace, while recognizing and appreciating our own particular faith understandings," Johnson said.

The nondenominational Outreach Center said it will host the Quran-burning event on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The group said it will remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Wednesday, the city of Gainesville denied a burn permit to the center, said Bob Woods, City of Gainesville spokesman.

"It was a question of public safety," said Woods. "The Gainesville Fire Department has notified the center through a letter," he said.

But that isn't stopping the church. The Gainesville Sun reported that, in an e-mail newsletter sent out Wednesday, the church announced: "City of Gainesville denies burn permit - BUT WE WILL STILL BURN KORANS."

Gene Prince, the interim chief of Gainesville Fire Rescue, told the Sun on Wednesday that under the city's fire prevention ordinance, an open burning of books is not allowed. He said if the church goes ahead with its plan, it will be fined.

And the church's intentions aren't the issue. "It wouldn't matter what the book is they're burning," Deputy Chief Tim Hayes told the Sun.

"We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez last month.

Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.

On the church's website, a section details "Ten Reasons to Burn a Koran."

The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the month-long fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders.

"American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release.

The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.

"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.
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i do not agree with this... it's funny as hell, but i don't agree with it.

as angry as I am...I dont think burning korans will solve anything. I'm not religious so i honestly put no stock in it. I believe in people, and that sometimes they can be kind.

I say do it!!...fair is fair.

If we're gonna go down this road, it would just make a lot more practical sense to burn the READERS of these ko-rans ...

they're the ones interpretin' and executin' those commands to 'convert by the sword', right ... ? Just sayin' ...

no man....we shouldn't sink to their level on this one. We as soldiers have enough convincing to do...this isn't something we need to be dealing with. Fight them and beat them in to submission??? YES...sink to their level?? NO

thats why the country would be better off without religion. this just seems like propaganda that Christians put out to act stupid. nothing good can come of this...

Agreed - option of last resort ... BUT:

Sometimes y' got to out-terrorize the terrorists ...

This could be one of those times ...

It could also be another My Lai ...

true...i just dont think we are at that stage yet.

i agree... we are better than that. this is just starting unnecessary BS that we do not need.

We need more militia groups.

why?? we are the strongest military force in the world...

Not anymore.

lol, not the biggest...i said strongest...and yes we are.

Not anymore.

u in the military?? if not how do u know?? the big three in size are china india and pakistan....for weapons....U.S.A

But the U.S. military is too politicized now. They refuse to take matters into their own hands (like the great military leaders of the past) and do what needs to be done. Instead, they blindly follow what the politicians tell them to do.

I know there is a chain of command, but there also must be some common sense from the military leaders and strategists.

thats because if a WWIII starts, it wont be 50 million dead....it will be well over a billion my friend. the armies now are infinaty bigger.

"Burn a Quran Day", why?
Us burning their Quran is just as equal as them burning our flag. If we do that, why not strap bombs to ourselves and blow up mosques and their community centers here?
Oh wait, we don't get rewarded with 72 virgins in our afterlife.

WWIII started the day after WWII ended, and it got fueled more in 1979, and now today its almost ready to burst wide open.

Our military is simply not ready for it.

i want my virgins...