A group that includes Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson and Secretary of State Susan Savage has bought half-page advertisements in the state's two largest Sunday newspapers condemning the manner in which some state legislators refused copies of a commemorative edition Quran.
Retired Oklahoma Baptist University professor Mack Roark, who drafted the letter that appears in the ad, said the group was also motivated by public reaction to the incident.
"My initial (reaction) to this came from a strong sense that we need to pull away from the things that polarize us," Roark said Friday.
The controversy began three weeks ago when state Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, wrote fellow legislators that he had turned down a commemorative edition Quran because "most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."
The Quran was offered to House and Senate members by the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council, which is chaired by a Muslim.
About three dozen other legislators ultimately refused copies of the Quran, most of them without comment.
The incident elicited numerous electronic posts to the Tulsa World's online edition and many letters to the editor, both in support and opposition to Duncan.
Vincent LaVoi, a Tulsa investment advisor who signed the letter appearing Sunday, said he objected to the way Duncan handled the situation.
"Anyone is free to turn something down, absolutely," LaVoi said. "But the inflammatory remarks (and) the aggressive way he did it aren't good Oklahoma manners."
Headed "A Letter to Oklahomans," the advertisement is signed by more than 100 individuals, including Edmondson and his wife Linda, and Savage, a former Tulsa mayor.
Others signing the letter include former state Treasurer Robert Butkin, now a University of Tulsa law professor; state Energy Secretary David Fleischaker; former state Senate President Pro Tem Cal Hobson; Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday; Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal; state Secretary of Environment Miles Tolbert; former state Attorney General Mike Turpen; and former Tulsa lawmaker Penny Williams.
Roark said those signing the letter belong to no formal organization, although many of them met through the Oklahoma Symposium, a three-day event held every year at Quartz Mountain State Park.
The decision to take out the ads, Roark said, was "very ad hoc" and made through a series of e-mails passed from one person to another.
"There are names on there I don't know," said Roark, who still teaches a few OBU classes in Greek and the New Testament despite his retirement.
For him, Roark said, the issue is a matter of religious liberty and tolerance.
"I know many people in the Muslim community, some of them for 20 years or more," he said. "All the ones I know are very peace-loving, open-minded citizens."
Retired Oklahoma Baptist University professor Mack Roark, who drafted the letter that appears in the ad, said the group was also motivated by public reaction to the incident.
"My initial (reaction) to this came from a strong sense that we need to pull away from the things that polarize us," Roark said Friday.
The controversy began three weeks ago when state Rep. Rex Duncan, R-Sand Springs, wrote fellow legislators that he had turned down a commemorative edition Quran because "most Oklahomans do not endorse the idea of killing innocent women and children in the name of ideology."
The Quran was offered to House and Senate members by the Governor's Ethnic American Advisory Council, which is chaired by a Muslim.
About three dozen other legislators ultimately refused copies of the Quran, most of them without comment.
The incident elicited numerous electronic posts to the Tulsa World's online edition and many letters to the editor, both in support and opposition to Duncan.
Vincent LaVoi, a Tulsa investment advisor who signed the letter appearing Sunday, said he objected to the way Duncan handled the situation.
"Anyone is free to turn something down, absolutely," LaVoi said. "But the inflammatory remarks (and) the aggressive way he did it aren't good Oklahoma manners."
Headed "A Letter to Oklahomans," the advertisement is signed by more than 100 individuals, including Edmondson and his wife Linda, and Savage, a former Tulsa mayor.
Others signing the letter include former state Treasurer Robert Butkin, now a University of Tulsa law professor; state Energy Secretary David Fleischaker; former state Senate President Pro Tem Cal Hobson; Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday; Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal; state Secretary of Environment Miles Tolbert; former state Attorney General Mike Turpen; and former Tulsa lawmaker Penny Williams.
Roark said those signing the letter belong to no formal organization, although many of them met through the Oklahoma Symposium, a three-day event held every year at Quartz Mountain State Park.
The decision to take out the ads, Roark said, was "very ad hoc" and made through a series of e-mails passed from one person to another.
"There are names on there I don't know," said Roark, who still teaches a few OBU classes in Greek and the New Testament despite his retirement.
For him, Roark said, the issue is a matter of religious liberty and tolerance.
"I know many people in the Muslim community, some of them for 20 years or more," he said. "All the ones I know are very peace-loving, open-minded citizens."
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