Terry Jones
|
| “ | Watch out! Be careful. There is a part of the Quran that is very dangerous, there is an element of Islam that is very dangerous and oppressive. Do not be fooled by all of the peace talk, because behind the peace talk we do not see the fruits. | „ |
| ~ Jones' warning about Islam. |
Terry Jones (born October 1951) is an American anti-Islamic far-right activist and the pastor of Dove World Outreach Center, a small nondenominational Christian church located, until July 2013, in Gainesville, Florida, United States. He is the President of a political group, Stand Up America Now. He first gained national and international attention in 2010 for his plan to burn Korans, the scripture of the Islamic religion, on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
He was a self-declared independent U.S. presidential candidate in the 2012 and 2016 U.S. presidential elections.
In 2011, he was listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of 10 people in the United States' "Anti-Muslim Inner Circle"
Biography edit
Jones worked as an assistant hotel manager in the late 1970s, then became an assistant pastor with Maranatha Campus Ministries in Kentucky. He went to Cologne, Germany with his first wife to work as a missionary and founded and led the Christliche Gemeinde Köln (CGK) in 1981, with that church growing to as many as 1,000 members over the years, initially as a branch of the Maranatha Campus Ministries and a sister church to Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida.
On September 18, 1997, Jones spoke during the First Session of the 105th Congress at a hearing before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe in Washington D.C., concerning the religious persecution of Christians in Europe.
While living in Germany, Jones was fined $3800 by a Cologne court for using the "doctor" title awarded with an honorary degree from an unaccredited school.
According to the German Evangelical Alliance, Jones was released from the leadership of the Christliche Gemeinde Köln in 2008 due to his indefensible theological statements and his craving for attention. The Gainesville Sun reported that he left the church in Germany after being accused of fraud. A leader of the Cologne church said that Jones "didn't project the biblical values and Christianity, but always made himself the center of everything." German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that church members said Jones ran the Cologne church like a sect leader and used psychological pressure on members, "subordinating all activities to his will." Der Spiegel reported that Jones had been ejected by Cologne church for creating "a climate of control and fear." Following Jones' departure, the CGK closed, then reopened under new, independent, leadership.
Jones came to lead the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida church by way of his association with the Maranatha Campus Ministries.
In October 2010, Jones founded the political organization, Stand Up America Now.
On October 27, 2011, Jones announced that he was running for President of the United States, as an independent candidate, with no political party affiliation. He remarked that he was entering the race because none of the candidates were adequately communicating the dire state of the U.S. economy to the U.S. citizenry. His platform calls for the deportation of all illegal immigrants, withdrawal of American troops abroad, and a reduction in bureaucracy and corporate tax rates.
In March 2013, Florida media sources reported that Jones, with Dove World Outreach Center, and the organization Stand Up America Now plan to leave Gainesville, Florida and move to Tampa, Florida. In August 2013, the Bradenton Herald reported that the Pastor had purchased property near Bradenton and planned to move his ministry there.
Jones relocated to Bradenton, Florida, breaking with most of his 15-member flock at Dove Outreach, but retaining his associate pastor Wayne Sapp. In 2015, Jones opened a Fry Guys Gourmet Fries stand at a mall in Bradenton, selling Buffalo wings and speaking his mind until later in the week when a mall manager, concerned about potential trouble, requested him to stay out of the mall, remove photos of himself from the premises and take his name off the lease, though he remains an owner of the company. He also owns a furniture moving company, TSC, with his brother. TSC deliveries became backlogged and received consumer complaints shortly after the January 15 Charlie Hebdo attack raised concerns about Al-Qaeda.
Jones has ties to the English Defense League, having spoken at one of their rallies in 2011 in regards to his hatred of Islam.