Terry Jones–the Pentecostal
pastor who caused an international stir after he threatened to burn the Quran on Sept. 11—recently said that members of his
church had left because of his stance against Muslims.
Interviewed near Ground Zero this week, he said
that his Gainesville, Fla. congregation was not interested in the “truth” about
radical Islam.
“People come to church and want to hear, ‘God loves you,
you’re a good person,'” the NY Daily News quoted Jones as saying. “That’s true. God does love
you. But there’s more we need to tell people, and they don’t want to hear
it.”
Despite losing his flock he said that he plans to stay busy
and has started another organization dubbed Stand Up America, which seeks
to “teach about the dangers of radical Islam.”
He also has plans to launch a
televangelism program with a California network and intends to start an
International Judge Mohammed Day.
Jones was widely criticized
earlier this year after announcing he would burn 200 Qurans at his Dove
World Outreach chuch on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. President Obama said
the move would be a “recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida.”
Christian leaders also widely
denounced the plan, with Samaritan’s Purse founder Franklin Graham and the
Vatican calling Jones’ effort “outrageous and grave.”
Jones
canceled the burning just days before it was scheduled to take place.
