Terry Jones, the controversial pastor of Evangelical Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, has been making news all week for his plans to burn copies of the Koran. It’s his little protest to mark the anniversary of 9/11.
He has the support of his entire church – all 50 members or so of them. And apparently, there are a couple of folks here and there who also support his plans. I have no idea who these people are.
You see, in theory, I support his First Amendment rights to do whatever he wants. I just don’t understand it. I especially don’t understand it in light of the warning issued by General Petraeus that this sort of protest might put the lives of our military in danger. As the sister of military personnel, I can’t process how someone would choose to put in harm’s way the very men and women who give him the freedom to do stupid things like burn the Koran in the first place.
But then there’s a lot I don’t understand about this man and his “church.” He’s also a public supporter of Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. If that name rings a bell, that’s the “church” whose members stage protests at the funerals of US service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan shouting horrible things at the families of those soldiers and carrying signs that say things like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” They believe that the deaths of our service men and women are God’s punishment on the military because there are gay people in America. Yeah.
Of course, you’ll be pleased to note that all of these messages are being spread about tax free. You see, Dove Charismatic Ministries, Inc., the umbrella organization for the church, is tax-exempt. At least for now.
Former church members have accused Jones and his wife of using “volunteer” labor from the church to support his eBay furniture sales company. According to the Gainesville Sun, Jones’ company, TS and Company, operates out of the church’s building. I checked in with their eBay store today. The store, which refers to itself as a “Christian company” is currently empty.
A second related venture, TSC Moving Company, no longer has an active web site. Their listing on hotfrog.com is active, however, and notes that their contact info is 5805 NW 37th St, Gainesville, FL 32653, the church’s address. The phone number is also the same.
If it feels like a little improper commingling, you’re right. In fact, as a result of all of this messy “for profit” nonsense, Dove has lost part of its tax-exempt status for local purposes. The Gainesville Sun reported last month that the Alachua County Property Appraiser determined that the church has to pay taxes on part of its 20 acre property (yep, 20 acres!) because of their for profit ventures.
Despite the local ruling, the organization continues to operate as a tax-exempt organization for federal purposes. However, the Americans United for Separation of Church and State has called for investigation by the IRS into Dove’s status. The specific complaint stems from a sign posted by the church opposing a political candidate, a huge no-no for tax-exempt organizations. You can read their letter here (downloads as a pdf).
The Joneses, for their part, have refused to answer questions about funding for the church or where the money raised by their for profit ventures goes. The web site for TS and Company initially indicated that the company supported organizations like the “Lisa Jones House”. The site for the Lisa Jones House is now down. Other sites which reference the Lisa Jones House use the Dove address as their place of business (surprise!). The IRS does not have a record of a tax-exempt organization called the “Lisa Jones House” on their site.
The IRS has not issued a public comment on the status of the Evangelical Dove World Outreach Center but you can bet that they, like the rest of the world, are watching.
(Editor’s Note/Update: CNN is reporting that the proposed burning has been called off.)
Fascinating stuff, and the most complete background on Jones/Dove that I’ve seen thus far. Thanks!
Did you see that the Phelps/WB goons are currently protesting Rosh Hashanah at Illinois synagogues? Oy vey.
The Vatican has also warned that Christian minorities in Muslim-majority countries are in danger of retaliation if Terry Jones and his followers go ahead with their ill conceived plan to burn the Qur’an.
Terry Jones and his church group have certainly stirred up a hornet’s nest. This is what the first amendment is all about. The freedom to say and do things in the name of free speech is what separates us form so many other countries. Yes, Terry Jones has the right to burn the Quran – but it’s just dumb! Let’s not give him any more publicity than necessary and let’s forget about investigating everyone that disagrees with us. It’s very chilling of what the first amendment is really about.
This dredges up the memory of the Supreme Court case about free speech, where the opinion read something along the lines of: “Free speech gives one the right to speak – but to the right to shout “Fire” in a crowded theater in order to cause a panic.
Seems to me that Mr. Jones is planning to set fire to Quran – in a crowded theater – the whole world now watching. If the law of the US forbids some forms of “speech” as incendiary, then I would certainly image that this form of speech begs a firestorm.
Mr. Craig, I agree that we have given this idiot and his “flock” far more attention that the 15 nano-minutes they deserve.
If only we had a responsible media that did not hand the microphone over to the whacky fringe extremists! The reason that everyone cares about this manufactured controversy is because it’s become the center of a media wildfire, not because of the action itself. Westboro Church has actually come out and said that they do not condone the actions- not because they find them bad, but because *they themselves burned Qurans last year*.
To be honest, his church sounds like a cult, so maybe this will at least backfire and get him in more trouble than he caused.
I’d recommend a look at Terry Jones’ videos on the BraveheartShow youtube channel, say for instance “Pray for Obama and give warning” or “Obama is President because he is black”, where you’ll hear Mr. Jones say “You voted for him because he was a Democrat! How can you vote for a Democrat?” at about 4:30. At about 8:20 he says “If you voted for President Obama you need to repent. That was a sin.” He closes that show with “Join with us. Dove World Dot Org. Stand with us. Dove World Dot Org.”