Published: November 18, 2009 11:08 pm         

Church sign raises objection

Pastor says intent was not derogatory

TERRE HAUTE — A sign at a Terre Haute church bearing a message that many people would deem “intolerant” has raised an objection from a concerned teenager who could not let the message go unchallenged.

Saagarika Coleman submitted a letter to the editor of the Tribune-Star (see page A8) stating that she was “hit with a wave of shock. I was horrified” when she saw the sign at Bible Baptist Church as her father drove her to school Monday morning.

The sign stated, “Jesus died and rose and lives for you. What did Allah do.”

To Coleman and others, the message seems to challenge or belittle the Muslim faith. At best, such sentiments strike some people as an un-Christian approach to tolerance of other beliefs.

“I just think God’s love is wider and deeper than that,” said Sister Denise Wilkinson, general superior of the Sisters of Providence, when asked for comment about the sign’s message.

“We believe and operate from the assumption that God is known in many different ways by many different people in many different cultures,” Wilkinson said of the Catholic tradition. “And the ways God speaks to people is bigger than any one faith or belief.”

The use of the word “Allah” in the sign may seem to challenge Islam, but Pastor Bob Parker of Bible Baptist Center at 25th Street and Margaret Avenue said the intent was not derogatory.

“People are making it a political statement,” said Parker when asked about the meaning of the sign’s statement.

“It just means the founder of Christianity still lives,” Parker said.

He pointed out that the statement about Allah did not have a question mark behind it, so he did not think it was an attack. However, Parker also said the church does not have punctuation lettering for the sign. A church member had suggested the message to him, and he approved it.

As of Wednesday, Parker said he had received three comments about the sign, and he is willing to talk to people about it.

By Wednesday afternoon, the message on the sign had changed. But Parker said the message changes weekly, and it was just time to make the change.

“I’m not concerned,” he said of the comments about the message’s negative connotation.

Al Mansor, speaking on behalf of the Islamic Center of Terre Haute, said some people confuse the prophet Mohammed with Allah. “Many people are ignorant about the word Allah,” Mansor told the Tribune-Star when asked about the church sign.

“Allah means God. God is the Creator. Allah,” he said, agreeing that Jesus is the Son of God, as Christians believe. Muslims also believe in Jesus, he pointed out.

“We have to believe in Jesus. If we don’t, we’re not Muslim,” Mansor said.

Terre Haute is a diverse community, with many people of the faiths of Judaism, Islam and Hinduism residing, working, raising families and being active in the community. However, the dominance of Christian churches and worship centers may give the impression that Christianity is the only organized religion in the area.

For Hindus, the nearest temple for worship is in Indianapolis, but weekly visits to a temple are not required for worship, unlike Christianity, which urges regular attendance at worship services.

For Muslims, worship is supported by the Islamic Society of North America, which has its headquarters in Plainfield.

In the days following the symbolic tearing down of the “Wall of Hate” event at Indiana State University, the church’s message seemed ironic to the teenage letter-writer.

The child of a Hindu mother and a Catholic father, Coleman wrote in her letter, “Who are we, as mere humans, to question the workings God or even to try to convince other people that only our way is correct?”



Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.

     

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