Dove World Outreach Center vs Islam

Meet Dr. Terry Jones. The good doctor is the pastor at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, FL which, by all appearances, is your run-of-the-mill small, southern fire and brimstone kind of Christian church. Before this week, the only thing “global” about Dove World Outreach Center were their numerous videos posted on YouTube in which Dr. Jones rants about gay marriage, Muslims and evolution. Of course, they posted a sign (pictured here) on their property this week which has caused a bit of a stir among local residents, and when CNN picked up the story, Dr. Jones found himself a national platform for his agenda. Still, the sign has sparked the obligatory protests and anti-signs that are standard issue in such things.

America was founded by people who were escaping religious persecution, so freedom of religion was kind of a “hot button” issue for them, and I think it remains so today. Our Founding Fathers made certain that part of living in America is that you have the freedom to worship whatever God you choose. Of course, the flip side is that you must also tolerate the fact that other people can pray to whatever weird, imaginary deity they choose to waste their Sunday praying to. That’s one thing that makes the US different than many other countries on earth. Try posting a sign which reads “Jesus Rules” in the middle of Tehran during Friday prayers and see how long your head and body remain joined. So, here in the US, you do not have to like the fact that people practice other religions, but you are compelled to recognize their right as Americans to practice their own religion.

During his brief interview on CNN, Dr. Jones said his sign was a sign of “love” and “awareness.” I wonder if the awareness to which he was referring was the awareness of the link on www.doveworld.org to solicit donations for the church. “Help us to stand up for what is right; for the truth of the Bible” (they accept MC, Visa, Amex, Discover and oddly, Paypal).
Look, a lot of deplorable acts have been committed over the centuries in the name of this god, or that, and I am not standing up for Christianity or Islam. I think organized religion as an institution is corrupt and flawed (except Baha’i which seems pretty cool). Everyone seems to think that their God is the “right” God and that every other God is the “wrong” God. I think the truth is that the truth is unknowable. I think we probably ALL have it wrong to a certain degree. Human beings are God’s greatest achievement (besides Apple iPhone), and I don’t think God likes the fact that we kill each other in His name. I think it would do the world a lot more good if we stopped bickering about which God is best, and concentrate on making this planet what God intended in the first place – a paradise for mankind.

By the way, I spent some time on YouTube watching Dr. Terry Jones’ videos. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom directly from the Dove World Outreach Center. (Check out the picture behind him of George W. Bush with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln each with a hand on his shoulder…weird) Enjoy!
On Homosexuality:
“One man climbing up on another man and poking him is not God’s way.”
On Evolution:
“All of those pictures in textbooks where it shows the ape developing into a man, those are not true. Those are made up. There is no development that has been found. And if evolution was a fact, then we would somehow still be developing…When something is something, it stays that.”
On Evolution:
“A dog will never have puppy horses.”
On Obama:
“Our President Elect is one of the greatest mistakes that America has ever made.”
On the Church:
“The church is actually what I would call...it is in a retarded stage. The church has stayed about six years old. About six or eight years old. Now that’s all fine when you’re that old, but if you stay six when you’re sixty, then what do we call that? We call that retarded.”
On Muslims:
“In France in 39 years, France will become an Islam republic.”
On Fornifi..Forn...uh...Sex:
“Things as fornification (sic), premarital sex, uh…a very popular thing – adultery, those are things that God did not intend.”