One of the strangest news stories recently, is about burning the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in Sweden. Apparently, in response, the Swedish embassy in Baghdad, Iraq was attacked and burned by an angry mob.

I have been to Sweden, more than once, and one time I stayed for several weeks. It’s a very nice place, and I didn’t see anyone burn anything, except possibly firewood. Many Swedes enjoy restoring vintage cars, and driving them. I remember encountering an old American Studebaker, one night.

It’s hard to imagine violent religious demonstrations among those pleasant people. But that is the story:

Apparently, the book burning was done by a man, originally from Iraq, who used to identify as Christian, but who now identifies as Atheist.

Sweden has a tolerant and free society, and he was given permission to burn holy books, including a Jewish Torah and a Christian Bible. For some reason, he only burned a Muslim Koran in his public demonstration.

As we can see in the news stories, this is a clash of cultures. The reaction has been extreme and violent, and a national embassy was attacked and burned in a riot. We all hope that things will not get worse, but this is like a dangerous explosion, that came out of nowhere.

There are some lessons for us, in this dangerous development:

1) We’re not in control.

World War Three could start any time, and we probably won’t see it coming. I’m sure no one was closely watching an Iraqi refugee in Sweden, who identified as an Atheist.

We are warned in the Bible, that trouble can come quickly, like an armed man:

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6: 10 and 11).

There is also an image of the end coming “Like a thief in the night.”

History can flip from peace and prosperity to something much worse, with no warning. “Sleep” and “slumber”, complacency, can be replaced by loss and stress, quickly.

2) We don’t believe, we belong.

If you watched any part of the video, notice that the argument and fight is about a book. In this case, the man burned a Koran and decided not to burn a Jewish Torah or a Christian Bible.

It is interesting that he burned a book, but there is no reference to any words in the book. In the images, people hold up small books with decorated covers, and one of those objects is held up and burned.

The words and its message is what makes the book important. A believer is someone who reads the words, and accepts them as truth. Instead, what we see is an image that represents a group of people, like a flag. Their flag-image was desecrated, and that provoked riots.

In one video, demonstrators burned a Swedish flag as their response.

The identity group that “we” belong to is offended, but there is no mention of the true words that “we” believe.

This is a human condition, and it was judged severely, in the Bible. The people concerned only with image and identity were given a new identity:

“Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” (John 8: 43 and 44).

That is a harsh judgment of our human condition.

3) We are independent thinkers, and we don’t always conform.

The Atheist man who burned the Koran was a member of a community that identified as Christian, in a region where most people Identify as Muslims, and those identities are given at birth. In many cases, a person who decides to believe something else, an apostate, can be killed; often by embarrassed family members. There are rumors that police, in some countries, don’t closely investigate the unexplained deaths of apostates.

Some things are expected.

The reality is, we each have an independent and autonomous mind, and we can secretly believe what we want. An image of conformity may be a way to stay safe.

Who knows what each person really thinks?

This is common knowledge among Christians: “… whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3: 16).

Who doesn’t know those words? We have to wonder, how much apparent ‘belief’ in any religion, or cause, is really just an image of conformity, to keep the family and the neighbors happy?

To summarize, we have news about a dangerous clash of values and beliefs. A refugee from the Middle East followed his real convictions and stopped conforming to the group when he found himself in a free and open society.

We will see more stories like this.

Brace yourself.