Groups Condemn Lawmakers Who Refused Quran

Members of the Tulsa Jewish Federation and several interfaith organizations today condemned Oklahoma lawmakers who turned down copies of the Quran, offered as gifts by the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Committee.

Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, refused a gift of Islam's holy book earlier this week (as did two dozen others), saying, "Most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."

"Today, I'm an American Muslim, speaking for our brothers," said David Bernstein, executive director of the Jewish Federation. "Hateful words inevitably lead to hateful actions," he said.

Also represented at the press conference, held at the Al-Salaam Mosque, were the Oklahoma Conference for Community and Justice, Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry, the Tulsa Interfaith Alliance, the Islamic Society of Tulsa, the Say No to Hate Coalition and the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

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