An angry God in this Sunday’s first reading complains to Moses that the Israelites have “turned aside from the way I pointed out to them.” Leaders of many faith traditions fear that some of the American people are being persuaded to turn away from the value of religious tolerance, especially when it comes to Muslims.

From the debate over a proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City to a pistol-toting Florida pastor’s plans to ignite a bonfire of Qurans on 9/11, observers fear a rising tide of intolerance.

Rev. Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove Outreach Center, a small Pentecostal church in Gainesville, Florida, has sparked worldwide condemnation for his plans to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The Vatican said Wednesday that burning the Quran would be an “outrageous and grave gesture," and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it would be a “disrespectful, disgraceful act.”

Fearing violence, some Muslims are leaving Gainesville this weekend to avoid problems. Last week in South Florida, 13 mosque leaders issued a call to the region's Muslims for nonviolence in anticipation of high emotions over the desecration of Islam's holy book.

In a rare example of a military official commenting on domestic affairs, Gen. David Petraeus, directing the military effort in Afghanistan, said Monday that the provocative act would hurt U.S. troops and play into the hands of extremists. Meanwhile, hundreds of Afghans protested in Kabul and burned Jones in effigy.

The Gainesville Fire Department has denied Jones a permit for the event, but he plans to go ahead with it anyway. Known for posting signs proclaiming that Islam is the devil's religion, Jones says the U.S. Constitution gives him the right to publicly set fire to the Quran.

In response to the ongoing controversy over the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, a group of prominent Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders held an “emergency summit” meeting in Washington, D.C. Tuesday to denounce what they called the "derision, misinformation, and outright bigotry” aimed at American Muslims.

“This is not America,” said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the emeritus Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, flanked by three dozen clergy members and religious leaders at a packed news conference at the National Press Club. “America was not built on hate.”

Source: Articles by CNN wire service, Liz Goodwin and Mitch Stacey for Associated Press, Dave Cook for the Christian Science Monitor, Jaweed Kaleem for the Miami Herald, and Damien Cave and Laurie Goodstein for the New York Times