Pastor Terry Jones addresses US Embassy attacks, says he not responsible and ‘everything insults Islam’
Florida minister Terry Jones made supporting comment the film mocking of the Prophet Muhammad and again Jones is admist a firestorm after of Tuesday’s uprising in Libya and Egypt that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens in Benghazi.
Although he was unable to air a trailer of the film at his International Judge Muhammad Day on Tuesday night, he burned the Quran and aired it live online.
Daily Beast’s Lynn Waddell sat down with Jones in his Gainesville church office and got the scoop about his connection to the provocative film and his feelings about the violence it may have provoked.
Jones claims the filmmaker contacted him for a stamp of approval on the film.
“We were contacted by the producer/writer of this film a few weeks ago. He offered to fly down here to show us the film. Our involvement is he desired for us to promote the film and to broadcast the film because we are somewhat known especially in this area, although we speak out on many issues. He wanted us to put our stamp of approval on it and promote it in whatever way we could.”
Authorities haven’t put the clamp down on Jones at this point as only one source has contacted the Florida pastor.
“…I talked to General Dempsey. He asked us not to show or promote the film. He said he had seen the film himself and thought it was inappropriate and was concerned about the reaction overseas.”
Jones says his “Judge Muhammad Day” is a way “To raise awareness of radical Islam and to examine Muhammad’s life.”
So many citizens are blaming the controversial pastor for his role in stirring the pot, but he says he does not.
“Absolutely not. We are here 1,000 miles away. Our actions pose absolutely no danger to their lifestyle, to their families. What it does, of course, is insult them, but that’s what freedom of speech does. Not all the time, but that is actually the only time we need freedom of speech. Being insulted does not give you the right to break into someone’s home, kill them, steal their property. It is simply not an excuse because I have been insulted.”
He concluded: “We could say, ‘OK. We cannot do it. We cannot burn the Quran. We cannot show the movie.’ But where do we stop? Because actually everything you do against Islam is an insult. If you just speak out against Islam that’s an insult. You can’t speak out against Muhammad, Sharia, or Islam, so how do we back off?”
[…] The film was made by an Israeli-American and is promoted by Florida pastor Terry Jones who has drawn protests for burning the Holy Quran and vehemently opposing the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York. Jones has stated he doesn’t feel responsible by the chaos in the Middle East. […]