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On Monday of this week, a mosque in Joplin, Missouri burned to the ground, apparently due to arson. The report we see in the video above, uploaded on Wednesday by Press TV, paints a pretty bleak picture of “the bigotry that exists on the underbelly of America,” as one guest puts it. And certainly that bigotry exists.

But since the destruction on Monday, the Muslim community in Joplin has also seen an outpouring of love—coming from its neighbors in Joplin, as well as from around the world. A website was set up to raise money to rebuild the mosque, and as of Friday evening more than $305,000 in donations had poured in. Also, in what could perhaps be viewed as another example of Christians and Muslims coming together, an Episcopal church in Joplin hosted an iftar meal on Wednesday, while a student attending a Christian college in Joplin has organized an event for later this month entitled “Neighbors—Joplin Mosque Rally.” The affair will take place August 25 in a local park and will include food and live music from local bands.

“When there’s an act of hate, you have a choice to make it something beautiful. So that’s what this is all about: making things beautiful from things that aren’t,” said 20-year-old Ashley Carter, organizer of the rally.

Carter is a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin and she says she was inspired by “my love for Jesus. And I know that Jesus calls us to love people.” On her Facebook page she writes:

“Since the goal is unity, we want to come together for a meal. We are encouraging everyone attending to pack for a picnic—with a blanket and food and come out to Landreth to celebrate the power of love and diversity. We invite you to make cultural food and to share with your friends as we have a picnic at the park. There will be opportunities to support our community in a variety of ways including: artwork, writing on a love banner for the Islamic Society, giving to the Islamic Society, and/or simply coming to meet someone you didn’t know before! All in all, this is about paying it forward: giving love before hate crimes can be committed.”

As of Friday evening, nearly 600 people had posted that they planned to attend.

What’s going on in Joplin has even attracted attention from the mainstream media:

Christian college student’s idea leads to rally for burned mosque
By Josh Levs, CNN

(CNN) - When 20-year-old Ashley Carter heard about a mosque burned to the ground in her town this week, she was shocked.

"I was very saddened," she told CNN on Wednesday. "I thought it was very evil."

So Carter, a student at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri, texted a friend, suggesting they organize an event "promoting acts of love."

But quickly, the idea changed: They would organize a "rally of people coming together, from all walks of life, all religions, a really diverse group of people trying to promote this radical love."
Read more

If you go on and read the rest of the story, you’ll also find that members of a Jewish group, the United Hebrew Congregation, were expected to take part in the iftar meal. Also, more on the Joplin story can be found here.

Carter’s ideas about “radical love” and “paying it forward” are interesting ideas. Is there perhaps a lesson to be learned from all this?
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