Terry Jones Says He's Not to Blame For Mideast Violence, Adds 'They've Been Doing This For 1,400 Years'
DETROIT (Talk Radio 1270) As the Middle East explodes in violence, controversial Quran-burning Florida church leader Rev. Terry Jones addressed a serious issue on the Charlie Langton Talk Radio 1270 show.
Is he responsible for American deaths?
"Absolutely not, what we were doing is exercising our constitutional rights, the First Amendment, we had an international 'Judge Mohammed' day, we were just simply exercising our constitutional rights, we were speaking out, we pose no danger to Muslims or to Islam.
"This is just again, a very good example of what radical Islam does ... what they have been doing for the last 1,400 years."
Jones held a 'Judge Mohammed Day' at his parish on 9/11 where they went through 43 points of Mohammed's life to "prove his violence," before burning his image and the image of the Quran, and showed the trailer for the "Innocence of Muslims," a movie that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton identified as the likely cause of the deadly attack.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans were killed Tuesday in riots sparked by alleged outrage at the movie that unfavorably depicts Mohammed, and includes a scene with the church leader having sex.
Jones blamed President Barack Obama, saying it stems from his "pro-Islam and pro- Muslim Brotherhood" stance and "wimpy leadership" that causes radical elements to have "no respect for the United States worldwide."
Jones acknowledged he was asked by General Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, not to promote the "Innocence of Muslims" movie for the sake of avoiding violence. Jones said he still showed the trailer. "We were going to release the trailer ... It was accurate, the things that were in there... were taken out of Islamic history."
So, will he stop promoting the movie in the wake of violence? Jones said he would consider backing down from showing the full movie, but hasn't decided yet. In fact, he hasn't seen the entire movie.
Then he turned the tables and said while government officials have asked him to stop holding public anti-Islam events, they side with his beliefs.
"These officials have never been in disagreement with me," Jones said. "They've never said 'You don't understand, Islam is a religion of peace' ... They have seen what happens under Islamic rule, what they have been in disagreement with is my method."
On the deaths, he added, "I think it's terrible what has happened there with the U.S. ambassador ... (But) It's a little bit of a shame that we are now upset about that when this has been going on for generations."
Caller Leslie in Detroit blasted Jones, saying, "I think this guy's an abomination to Christianity, he embarrasses Christianity, if you're a Christian, what happens to tolerance and understanding? This guy is an embarrassment, a complete embarrassment."
"We have exercised (tolerance)," Jones said in response, adding, "Muslims are welcome in America, they can proselytize, they can move freely ... In that sense we are very, very tolerant, but we cannot be tolerant of certain issues. We cannot be tolerant of murder, or rape. In some cases, tolerance is misplaced. What we're doing is speaking out against the radical element ... We have to re-examine how we use words, tolerance, I believe has been misused.
"I don't think there's any tolerance for reacting with violence because I burned a book ... We are insulted all the time when people burn the flag, burn Bibles ... Being insulted is not a reason to commit violence, one of the reasons we burn the Quran is just in protest ... It does have very many violent verses, which people use."
Does he belive are all Muslims are violent?
"I certainly hope not," Jones said, adding. "I believe the large majority of Muslims are probably a lot like Christians who have not read the Bible. They have an imagination of what the Quran is about (but they haven't read it.)"
Supporting Jones, John of Detroit said, "He's right. He has every right to do what he did. They burn Bibles all the time ... I feel this is being blown out of promotion. He'd better not back down."
"I can guarantee him we are not going to back down," Jones said, adding that he's coming to Edsel Ford High School Oct. 10 to protest bullying. "We are definitely not going to back down."
