Skidmore to host 'Unburnable Qurans' program Sept. 11
The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at Skidmore will host "Unburnable Qurans" from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, on the Case Center patio outside of the Burgess Cafe on campus.
Designed originally to counter the "International Burn a Koran Day" in Gainesville, Fla., "Unburnable Qurans" will feature students and professors at Skidmore who are Muslim or are scholars about Islam and Islamic culture. Although the Florida event has been suspended, the Skidmore program will go on as planned. Organizer Alexander Brehm '12, told The Saratogian, "As long as there is uncertainty about a religion that is so much in the public discourse there is a need to inform."
The public is welcome to hold conversations with and have questions answered by the speakers. "Unburnable" digital copies of the Quran will be available for browsing.
The event will have a casual, open format for conversation. There will be no prepared remarks or speeches. There is no intent to preach Islam or support any particular ideology. The event is for learning about Islam in a media climate where debates often rely on poorly understood facts and outright misinformation.
"Unburnable Qurans" is inspired, in a sense, by the list of news items that Time magazine and others have categorized as "Islamophobia," including Park51, or the "Ground Zero Mosque;" the arson at a mosque construction site in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; the stabbing of a Bangladeshi cab driver in New York City; and especially Florida pastor Terry Jones's "Burn a Koran Day." All have revealed a range of reaction to Islam in America, from misunderstanding to contempt. The goal of "Unburnable Qurans" is to underline that Americans are not fearful of Islam, but are instead tolerant of and curious to learn about the religion.
Skidmore's Office of Student Diversity is a co-sponsor of Saturday's event.
