In July 2010, Terry Jones, the pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, United States, announced plans to burn 200 copies of the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The announcement attracted significant media attention and sparked international outrage, particularly throughout the Islamic world. Numerous world leaders urged Jones to cancel the event. His threat led to protests across the Middle East and Asia, resulting in at least 20 deaths. In early September 2010, Jones announced the event was cancelled and pledged not to burn the Quran.Pastor Terry Jones: 'We will not burn the Quran', NBC News (November 9, 2010). Retrieved April 30, 2011.
Despite his earlier statement, on March 20, 2011, Jones held a "trial of the Quran" at his church in Gainesville. During the event, the Quran was declared "guilty" of crimes against humanity and was subsequently burned in the church sanctuary.Gainesville's Dove World Outreach Center denies it is responsible for violence over Quran burning, Gainesville.com (April 1, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011. The act triggered widespread protests in Afghanistan, including a violent attack in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where demonstrators stormed a United Nations compound, killing at least 30 people, including seven UN staff members, and injuring more than 150 others.Protests continue in Afghanistan against Quran burning, CNN (April 5, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011. Jones disclaimed any responsibility. Norwegian, Swedish, Nepalese and Romanian nationals were among the UN workers killed. On April 4, 2011, two U.S. soldiers were killed by an Afghan police officer, an act that was attributed to outrage over the Quran burning. American news analysts criticized and blamed Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, for drawing attention to the Quran burning."Why did Karzai spotlight Terry Jones's Quran burning?", Christian Science Monitor (April 5, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011.
Terry Jones
Terry Jones was born in October 1951 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He attended college for two years, worked at a hotel, and joined the now defunct Maranatha Campus Ministries. He moved to Cologne, Germany, where in 1981, he founded a charismatic church, the Christian Community of Cologne (CGK).
Jones received an honorary degree from an unaccredited theology school in 1983, and began using the title "Doctor." He was fined for this misuse of a credential title by a German administrative court. By the late 2000s, the CGK grew to have a membership of approximately 800–1000. According to the German magazine, Der Spiegel, the congregation kicked Jones out in 2008 due to the "climate of fear and control" that he employed, which included elements of "brainwashing" and telling congregants to beat their children with rods. He was accused of improper use of church funds, and forcing congregants to labor for free. A leader of the Cologne church said Jones did not "project the biblical values and Christianity, but always made himself the center of everything." Others accused him of being violent and fanatical. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that church members said Jones ran the Cologne church like a cult, using psychological pressure.
Between 2001 and 2008, Jones served as the part-time pastor of the Gainesville, Florida church Dove World Outreach, frequently traveling back and forth between Germany and the United States. Jones assumed full-time duties at Dove World Outreach in 2008 after leaving the German church. By September 2010, Dove World was said to have 50 members, with about 30 members reportedly attending services.
In 2010, Jones published Islam Is of the Devil, a polemic that claims Islam promotes violence, and that Muslims want to impose sharia in the United States. After Jones announced the Quran burning, the German Evangelical Alliance denounced his theological statements and his craving for attention.
Following an invitation from the English Defence League, Jones considered attending a rally in Luton in the UK in February 2011 to share his views. The anti-fascist group Hope not Hate petitioned the Home Secretary to ban Jones from entering the country. In January 2011, Home Secretary Theresa May announced that Jones would be refused entry to the UK 'for the public good'.
Jones' actions have prompted a religious group to place a $1.2 million bounty on his head; Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group, has announced a $2 million bounty.Metro interfaith leaders to unite against Quran-burning pastor|Detroit Free Press. freep.com (April 20, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011."America's south is the land of contradictions", The Australian (April 16, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011.
On April 22, 2011, Jones planned to visit the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan, to protest sharia, but was arrested, tried and jailed.Terry Jones' planned visit sparks fears of violence, hopes for solidarity – News . Press and Guide. Retrieved April 30, 2011.Brand, Oralandar. (April 23, 2011) "Terry Jones says he will file a lawsuit against Mich. county prosecutor's office", The Washington Post. Retrieved April 30, 2011. Local authorities had required him either to post a $45,000 "peace bond" to cover Dearborn's cost if Jones was attacked by extremists or to go to trial. Jones contested that requirement, and the jury voted to require the posting of a $1 "peace bond", but Jones and his co-pastor Wayne Sapp continued to refuse to pay. They were held briefly in jail, while claiming violation of First Amendment rights. That night Jones was released by the court. On November 11, 2011, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Robert Ziolkowski vacated the "breach of peace" ruling against Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp on the grounds that they were denied due process. Both men's criminal records have since been expunged.
On the evening of April 22, 2012, soon after he was interviewed at WJBK, Jones' gun fired accidentally as he got into his car.Pastor accidentally fires gun outside TV studio|Detroit Free Press. freep.com (April 23, 2011). Retrieved April 30, 2011.
The city allowed him to protest on April 29, a week after the trial, in a designated "free speech zone" outside Dearborn City Hall. Muslim protesters lined Michigan Avenue across the street from City Hall. About an hour into the protest, the crowds broke the barricades and a police line. They rushed the street but were quickly contained by riot police crews. The crowd was throwing water bottles and shoes at supporters of Jones. Police worked to push the crowd back across Michigan Avenue. At least one arrest was made.
2010 threat to burn a Quran In 2010, Jones announced plans to burn the Quran on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which he dubbed "International Burn a Quran Day". A wide range of politicians and religious groups strongly condemned the planned Quran desecration event. Jones said he canceled the event and intended to go to New York to meet with the imam of Park51, Feisal Abdul Rauf. After saying he would never burn the scriptures, on March 20, 2011, Jones oversaw the burning of a Quran.
This prompted protests, including an attack in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of at least 14 people. In April 2011, Jones said he is considering a trial of Muhammad for "crimes against humanity".Pastor Terry Jones Plans To Hold Trial Of Islam Prophet Mohammed. Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
Background Dove World Outreach Center, where the Quran burning was to occur, is a small congregation in Gainesville, with approximately 50 members. The church, led by pastor Terry Jones and his wife, Sylvia, first gained media attention in the late 2000s for its anti-Islamic and anti-homosexual messages. In 2009, Dove World posted a sign on its lawn which stated in large red letters "Islam Is of the Devil". Several members of the church also sent their children to their first day of school in August 2009 wearing t-shirts with "Islam Is of the Devil" printed on the back.
The proposal to burn Qurans began with a series of Twitter messages on July 12, and a related discussion on the now-removed Facebook group "Islam Is of the Devil", named after Terry Jones' book. Jones invited Christians to burn the Muslim holy book to remember all 9/11 victims. It was to be held from 6p.m. to 9 pm. The idea initially had little support and considerable opposition, but Religion News Service ran a story describing Jones' claim that he had received Qurans to burn. CAIR refused to respond, but other religious organizations did. On July 25, Jones posted a YouTube video in which he held up a Quran and said "This is the book that is responsible for 9/11. No, to me it looks like the religion of the devil" which garnered substantial media attention. On August 3, Gainesville mayor Craig Lowe asked the world's media to ignore Jones' church as a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community", but coverage continued to increase. In early August, Sunni scholars at al-Azhar University in Cairo issued a statement warning of "dangerous consequences" if Qurans were burned. U.S. President Obama condemned the plan saying it would endanger the lives of U.S. troops abroad. American Muslims responded by saying they would celebrate September 11, 2010, as 'love Jesus day' emphasizing the fact that Jesus is believed to be a messenger of God in Islam. Other groups asked people to celebrate Read the Quran Day as a means to international understanding.
Reactions
Local (Florida) A Gainesville Interfaith Forum which was established in November 2009 in response to earlier anti-Islam activities of the church requested for the declaration of September 11 as "Interfaith Solidarity Day", a request that was honored by mayor Craig Lowe. The Forum scheduled a "Gathering for Peace, Understanding and Hope" at Trinity United Methodist Church on the day before the planned burning. Mayor Lowe referred to Dove World as a "tiny fringe group and an embarrassment to our community". Twenty local religious leaders gathered Thursday, September 2, 2010, to call for citizens to rally around Muslims "in a time when so much venom is directed toward them."
National
Shortly after the event was announced, the National Association of Evangelicals recommended that the event be canceled. The Southern Baptist convention also spoke out against it. The World Evangelical Alliance "asks Muslim neighbors to recognize that the plans announced by a Florida group to burn copies of the Quran on September 11 do not represent the vast majority of Christians." "It dishonors the memory of those who died in the 9/11 attacks and further perpetuates unacceptable violence." The event is broadly condemned by American religious leaders.
John Rankin, President of the Theological Education Institute in Connecticut, has started a "Yes to the Bible, No to the Burning of the Quran" effort. Also Jennifer Bryson is advocating Christian intra-faith dialogue and Christian rejection of "Burn a Quran Day".
Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric behind the move to build a Muslim community centre near "Ground Zero" (Park51) said that, should the burning of Qurans have gone ahead, it would have created a disaster in the Muslim world, strengthened the radicals, and enhanced the possibility of terrorist acts against America and American interests.
He also added that retracting the decision to build the mosque would send a wrong message that "moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be 'Islam is under attack in America'."
A group of American veterans of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan wrote an open letter to HuffPost calling on the American public to respect "the values we risked our lives to protect". "When citizens here participate in hateful rhetoric and intolerance toward Muslims, it leaves soldiers over there exposed." The letter concludes by asking "America, you gotta have our back."