Dove World Outreach Center vs Islam
Meet Dr. Terry Jones. The good doctor is the pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL which, by all appearances, is your run-of-the-mill small, southern fire and brimstone kind of Christian church. Before this week, the only thing “global” about Dove World Outreach Center were their numerous videos posted on YouTube in which Dr. Jones rants about gay marriage, Muslims and evolution. Of course, they posted a sign (pictured here) on their property this week which has caused a bit of a stir among local residents, and when CNN picked up the story, Dr. Jones found himself a national platform for his agenda. Saying “Islam is of the Devil” is kind of like saying “Eating at McDonalds makes you Fat” – it’s pretty true, but no one wants to hear it. Still, the sign has sparked the obligatory protests and anti-signs that are standard issue in such things.
America was founded by people who were escaping religious persecution, so freedom of religion was kind of a “hot button” issue for them, and I think it remains so today. Our Founding Fathers made certain that part of living in America is that you have the freedom to worship whatever God you choose. Of course, the flip side is that you must also tolerate the fact that other people can pray to whatever weird, imaginary deity they choose to waste their Sunday praying to. That’s one thing that makes the US different than many other countries on earth. Try posting a sign which reads “Jesus Rules” in the middle of Tehran during Friday prayers and see how long your head and body remain joined. So, here in the US, you do not have to like the fact that people practice other religions, but you are compelled to recognize their right as Americans to practice their own religion.
During his brief interview on CNN, Dr. Jones said his sign was a sign of “love” and “awareness.” I wonder if the awareness to which he was referring was the awareness of the link on www.doveworld.org to solicit donations for the church. “Help us to stand up for what is right; for the truth of the Bible” (they accept MC, Visa, Amex, Discover and oddly, Paypal).
Look, a lot of deplorable acts have been committed over the centuries in the name of this god, or that, and I am not standing up for Christianity or Islam. I think organized religion as an institution is corrupt and flawed (except Baha’i which seems pretty cool). Everyone seems to think that their God is the “right” God and that every other God is the “wrong” God. I think the truth is that the truth is unknowable. I think we probably ALL have it wrong to a certain degree. Human beings are God’s greatest achievement (besides Apple iPhone), and I don’t think God likes the fact that we kill each other in His name. I think it would do the world a lot more good if we stopped bickering about which God is best, and concentrate on making this planet what God intended in the first place – a paradise for mankind.
By the way, I spent some time on YouTube watching Dr. Terry Jones’ videos. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom directly from the Dove World Outreach Center. (Check out the picture behind him of George W. Bush with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln each with a hand on his shoulder…weird) Enjoy!
On Homosexuality:
“One man climbing up on another man and poking him is not God’s way.”
On Evolution:
“All of those pictures in textbooks where it shows the ape developing into a man, those are not true. Those are made up. There is no development that has been found. And if evolution was a fact, then we would somehow still be developing…When something is something, it stays that.”
On Evolution:
“A dog will never have puppy horses.”
On Obama:
“Our President Elect is one of the greatest mistakes that America has ever made.”
On the Church:
“The church is actually what I would call…it is in a retarded stage. The church has stayed about six years old. About six or eight years old. Now that’s all fine when you’re that old, but if you stay six when you’re sixty, then what do we call that? We call that retarded.”
On Muslims:
“In France in 39 years, France will become an Islam republic.”
On Fornifi..Forn…uh…Sex:
“Things as fornification (sic), premarital sex, uh…a very popular thing – adultery, those are things that God did not intend.”
http://idiotswalkamongus.blogspot.com/2009/07/dove-world-outreach-center-vs-islam.html
Mohammed Abbasi 
IF YOU ARE A MAN YOU WILL GO TO ONE OF US ARAB PEOPLE AND SAY IT TO OUR FACE I DARE YOU TO SAY IT TO ME DO YOU HEAR ME SPEAKING ABOUT THE BIBLE NO YOU DONT YOU ARE A STUPID MAN WHO HAS NO RESPECT AND MY GOD BURN YOU FOR WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE QUR’AN YOU ARE A DEVIL AND WE ALL KNOW IF YOU WANT THIS TO START I WILL BRING ALL ARABS TO FIGHT IT WILL BE WAR AS YOU STARTED THIS IT WILL NOT END UNLESS WE WANT IT TO THE ONLY DEVIL HERE IS YOU MAY ALLAH TAKE YOU FROM THIS WORLD AND BURN YOU FOR WHAT YOU SAID SO DO REMEMBER THAT THIS WORLD IS HALF ARABS AND MUSLIM PEOPLE AND THE AMERICANS ARE ON OUR SAID SO LET THE WAR BEGIN!
Assalaam sister, I don’t think we need to go that far, he is a fundamentalist just like other fundamentalists around the world therefore he is in the minority. He will get what he is asking for, the less we react to his idiotic behaviour the more we gain. Although if there is a war he will definitely be the creator of it. By Allah I pray it doesn’t come to that as there will be no peace left.
I like this writer – he has it right – good job Mohammed. Dr. Jones is a pedophile/weirdo – you can just look at him, watch his body language, and the venom he is spewing – and know he is a wrong minded person.
In my mind – and I hope you agree – any religious group that spews hatred toward another – is wrong-minded and should be corrected. The Jews should not be allowed to denigrate the Palestinians. They live on the same land – they should live in peace. Anyone that forfeits that behavior – should be removed from the land (killed or exiled.) If we could start there – others would follow – and our world would begin healing. We must heal our world – or we all will die – and heaven will be forfeited by us all.
Life is about sharing and caring for each other. We are all brothers and sisters regardless of the labels we take or we give to others.
First off, to my fellow human beings who happen to be Muslims, “Assalaamu ‘alaykum”. I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent to earth to accept the burden of our sins so we might be saved. Yet in certain circumstances I believe abortion is ok, I do not hate homosexuals, I do not hate people of other religions, I do not believe in war, I do not believe in violence, I try to love my fellow human beings, and I try to live a life exemplified by Jesus. I am a follower of Christ. And on behalf of Christians I apologize for this “man of God”. We share the same God. Yes, our beliefs are different, but, is that a reason to hate each other for it? I feel ashamed of Dr. Terry Jones (interestingly enough, it’s been impossible to find out what his credentials are) and the spewing of hate. Jesus himself said it is not our responsibility to stand in judgement of one another. That is reserved solely for God. We were told, however, to stand together in love. We as Christians were commanded to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls. We were also commanded to love each other as we love ourselves. Those are the only two commandments Jesus told us were the most important. If we can just do that, as a global community (a little dig on the “Left Behind” series), then we can be at peace with one another and bring Paradise/Heaven to earth.
Fi Amanullah.
Walikumsalaam, My dear brother Tony.
As a Christian you do not need to apologise for this man. I do not recognise him as a Christian. But as seekers of truth/love/God we need to be aware that people will claim to represent the Creator and his teachings and will have influence among those who do not know much about their religion. We just need to be wary of such extremists and make as many people aware as possible
very nice attitude, Mr Abbasi… would love to have conversations with U about reformation of Islam such as preconised by Gamal al Banna…
Sure feel free – my email is mohammed.abbasi@aobm.org and I look forward to a conversation 🙂
Pour nous,le ciel est bleu. Pour terry jones c’est l’enfer.
Yes though this man is obviously an oblivious fool, fools like this tend to be dangerous. We as a modern tolerant society need to refute this fool and his hate-speech. One of the problems with his call to burn Korans is that he is going from speech to action – we need to follow suit.
Indeed, the lack of collective and focused response emboldens these fanatics and we need to all stand together against these extremists
Mohammed –
A little bit of investigative reporting is reqiured here. I’m curious – what seminary would give this nutter a doctorate? I can’t find it online. Certainly no Mainline demonination’s seminary would do so. I’m suspecting a diploma mill.
Send in $59.95, get your D.D.
Would be interesting to know.
Indeed, it seems there is much more to this man than the image of a normal country pastor he is aiming to portray, but then again he is feeding on publicity and the media is blinded to who this man really is
Thank you for helping me to understand Mr. Jones frame of mind.
pleasure
I highly recommend.