A church in Gulfport, Mississippi has drawn the ire of the Muslim community in the city after it posted the words "Jesus is God, Allah is Satan" on its marquee.
One Muslim, Ari Cooper, said the message posted outside the Cowan Road Baptist Church is hateful.
"I felt that it was slanderous and that it was a hateful message. Anytime, we've never slandered anything that Christians on the coast do," Cooper told WLOX.
Cooper and Dawud Salaam said the Paris attacks have resulted in people branding Muslims as terrorists.
"I think it's more of ignorance when you lump a group of people to this big category because of one act that one person may have committed or several people have committed," Salaam said. "If people would take the time to study, not what other people tell them, but study what the facts are, then a lot of this confusion would be cleared up."
The two said they have received support and respect from all types of people.
"We just want to say that's the beauty of Islam because we are taught that there are two types of people in the world—they're either your brothers and sisters in faith, or your brothers and sisters in humanity," Cooper said.
Muslims as far as those in Atlanta, Georgia have reached out to the church's pastor, Chris Ashley, about the message on the marquee.
"We noticed on your sign that it says 'Allah is Satan, Jesus is God.' We challenge you to a public debate about your statement. You all have defamed and insulted our faith, so we would like to challenge your statement 'Allah is Satan, Jesus is God,'" one man told Ashley in a message.
Ashley agreed to a debate with Bilal Stroud on Dec. 5 at the Cowan Road Baptist Church.
On her blog, church member Gina Miller asked Ashley about the sign.
Ashley said, "God laid a message (sermon) on my heart for last Sunday the 22nd. That message was for the church to stop hiding the truth inside the walls of the church (not just this truth of Allah, but ALL truth). The body of Christ has succumbed to political correctness and fear of offending anyone, to the point we talk about the truth ONLY in the confines of the walls of the church."
"God laid it on my heart less than 30 minutes before the beginning of that service to proclaim that Allah of the Quran is Satan, and that Jesus is the true God. I did. Finishing the sign just minutes before the service. No malice. No judging (except for Allah and Satan). No hatred. Just obedience," he said.
"On a different note, I believe God has shown me over the last several days that my part of this message may not be for the Muslim people as much as it is for Christians. I am AMAZED at the number of self-proclaimed believers who think the God of the Bible and the god of the Quran are the same. May God bless you all."
Miller herself wrote that "What Pastor Chris wrote about Jesus and Allah is true.
"Islam is a political-militant ideology born in Hell and authored by Satan himself. Allah certainly is Satan. Islam is one of his master stroke creations, leading millions to an eternity in Hell. I will not bow to political correctness in this. I will not sugar-coat what I say about Islam, because I know what a vile and evil thing it is," she said.
