Terry Jones, pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. (MyFoxOrlando.com)
A Florida pastor is speaking out in defense of his congregation’s controversial plan to burn copies of Koran on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, MyFoxOrlando.com reported.
"Things like 9-11, Fort Hood, and the honor killings... these are possibly not isolated incidents," Dove World Outreach Center pastor Terry Jones said. "These are things that, if we don't stand up now, they can increase."
The Gainesville, Fla. church made headlines worldwide in July when it announced the plans on its Facebook page.
The event had received thousands of "Like" recommendations by users of the social networking site, but had also been attacked with a number of threatening messages posted on the page and received corresponding anti-Islam rants.
Jones — who has written a book titled "Islam is of The Devil" and sells T-shirts bearing the same message — says his life is being threatened after getting international attention for his plans.
"We have thought about it," the pastor said, "about the danger in holding the controversial event, and we realize that whenever we made this step, that this kind of thing could happen. But we feel it's that important, and the times call for some kind of radical measure in standing up.”
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