Crusade against Muslims costs ‘Ground Zero’ Koran-burning pastor his flock

NEW YORK - Pastor Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who threatened to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11 this year to protest against the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, has said that he has lost his followers because of his crusade against Muslims.

The members of Pastor Terry Jones’ Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, abandoned the congregation, he said near Ground Zero yesterday.

The New York Daily News quoted Jones as saying that his people left because “they are not interested in the truth” about radical Muslims’ intentions to take over the United States.

“People come to church and want to hear, ‘God loves you, you’re a good person’. That’s true. God does love you. But there’s more we need to tell people, and they don’t want to hear it,” he added.

Jones said he has kept busy despite losing his followers. He was in Manhattan announcing his latest project, an organization called Stand Up America, which aims to “teach about the dangers of radical Islam,” the paper said.

Jones, who also is launching a televangelism program with a California network, was earlier condemned by US diplomats, including President Barack Obama for his plans to burn Korans on the 9/11 anniversary.

He was also advised by the senior U.S. leader in Afghanistan, General David Petaeus, that the stunt would put American soldiers lives at greater risk and provide propaganda for the Taliban. Eventually the plan was cancelled.

He still has no plans to burn the book, he said yesterday, but does hope to launch International Judge Mohammed Day soon. (ANI)