Gainesville, Florida: Radical Pastor, Gay Mayor

In Gainesville this year, Sept. 11 would have been marked by the season opener of the mighty football team from the University of Florida, the Gators. The metropolitan police would have been reinforcements at the stadium, where openly gay mayor Craig Lowe, who has always advocated for tolerance, would be present.

Unfortunately, pastor Terry Jones, a marginal figure in this university town, made Gainesville more internationally famous than all the Gator triumphs by announcing that he intended to burn 200 copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in 2001. Despite his subsequent withdrawal, his attitude attracted journalists from around the world to this city of about 100,000 inhabitants. Vans from major TV networks occupied the lawn of his church, about six miles from downtown.

The entrance has a destroyed sign with the name of Jones’s church, Dove World Outreach Center. In front are three posters, with these words in red: “Islam,” “is of the,” and “devil” (Islam is of the devil). In front of the temple, which is nothing more than a poorly-built shed with a cross, a group of bikers assembled to defend the “right to freedom of expression provided for in the U.S. Constitution,” explained one.

Before the pastor announced the cancellation of the event, John Clark, a Gulf War veteran about 40 years old, said there was no need to discuss whether it was “right or wrong what he wants to do.” Then, talking with friends, he added, “There are no moderate Muslims. There are those who lie or who have not read the Quran. Differently from the Bible, this book preaches violence.” Another biker, with a bandana on his head and a protruding stomach, continued, “Islam is violent. This is a fact like the fact that I am fat. Most people don’t read it, but I took a look at parts of the Quran on the Internet.”

At 70 years old, a retiree who asked to be identified only as Warren was annoyed with the bikers. “They do not understand that this pastor just wants to draw attention,” he said. And he achieved that. Even President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to Jones, pressuring him not to move ahead with his initiative to burn copies of the Quran.

Total Pressure

The pressure intensified on Jones. Police warned the city would send the bill for security costs to the pastor and his followers — a warning that may have been instrumental in the decision to cancel the protest. In addition, the city fire department cited a rule prohibiting municipal fires that occupy an area larger than one square meter, under penalty of heavy fines.

The majority of residents in the city struggled to show Gainesville as a place of tolerance. Religious leaders in the region, including Muslims, gathered in the afternoon in a multi-religious act to defend Islam. Mayor Lowe also attended.

Since the beginning, Lowe led the campaign against Jones. When he ran for mayor and won, Lowe was harshly attacked by Jones. After the election results, the pastor promoted a demonstration in front of City Hall, saying he would not accept a gay mayor, arguing that “homosexuality is a crime.”

At the University of Florida campus, students tried to integrate the freshmen, inviting them to join groups in favor of abortion rights, homosexuality and safe sex with the distribution of condoms. Student Matthew Parrish, a Christian Methodist, accused Jones of changing the words of the Bible. “He should not say that Islam is of the devil,” he said. Another Christian student distributed hundreds of bracelets with the saying “Islam is of the heart.”

The Gainesville Sun, the city’s main newspaper, has for some time tried to expose Jones, who lived for a time in Germany where he congregated in a church in Cologne. He left the country after accusations of financial fraud, according to Der Spiegel. His own daughter refuses to speak with him. In Florida, he also was accused of tax violations by using the church to sell furniture.