Pastor Terry Jones on the Sharia March which Didn’t Happen

BRITISH MUSLIM CALLING FOR SHARIA IN AMERICA CANCELS EVENT AT THE LAST MINUTE

by Sharon Rondeau

(Mar. 3, 2011) — On March 3, 2011, activist Theresa Cao reported on a protest which had been planned for Thursday, March 3, outside of the White House involving Muslims who wanted to make Sharia law the law of the land in the United States.  At the last minute, the event was “postponed” by the organizer, Anjem Choudary.

Today, Pastor Terry Jones, who had planned a counter-protest to Choudary’s event, held it as scheduled in LaFayette Park in Washington, DC.  Pastor Jones was able to take a few minutes to give us his thoughts on the events of the day as they unfolded.  We spoke with him at about 2:10 p.m.

PASTOR JONES: I think it went really well.  As you know, Mr. Choudary did not show up today.  Otherwise, I think we have had a good rally.  We were, of course, disappointed that he did not come.  We feel that he did not come partly because of our counter-rally.  We talked to him on the phone a couple of times and also to his office, so he was definitely aware that we were here and that we were prepared to challenge his speech today concerning Sharia law here in America.

MRS. RONDEAU: How many people showed up?

PASTOR JONES: From the feedback that we got, we were expecting about 1,000 people.  We definitely did not reach that number.  I don’t know if people made a commitment and couldn’t fulfill it or if they heard that he canceled and then thought that we were going to cancel.  Other than that, there was a pretty good crowd here.  Other people are still here, and there was quite a bit of news media here.  So that was definitely a good opportunity to get our message out.

MRS. RONDEAU: Were the mainstream media there?

PASTOR JONES: Yes, they were.  I did quite a few interviews with Fox.  I know that the guy told me that Glenn Beck himself had sent him down here to carry the event and to talk to me.

MRS. RONDEAU: How did people at your rally react to the fact that Choudary canceled his event?

PASTOR JONES: We were definitely very disappointed.  We were looking forward to talking to him, challenging him, making our statement here clear.  We wanted to make a statement of welcome and of warning that Moslems in America are welcome; they are protected under our Constitution.  They are welcome to worship at a mosque.  We have no problem with Moslems in America who desire to obey and submit to our Constitution.  The warning was against Sharia, against radical Islam, against the element that wants to change, alter or replace our Constitution.  So I think our people were very disappointed.

MRS. RONDEAU: How long will your rally be going on today?

PASTOR JONES: We were schedule to go from about 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.

MRS. RONDEAU: Are there still people there?

PASTOR JONES: There are still people here, yes.  We have another interview at around 3:30, so I guess we will at least be here that long.

MRS. RONDEAU: Are there other groups who had scheduled rallies alongside yours?

PASTOR JONES: I only know of one other group.

MRS. RONDEAU: Thank you for the work you’re doing, Pastor.  Is there a closing statement you’d like to make?

PASTOR JONES: We would like to make a closing statement to Mr. Choudary.  We would challenge him to come back, we would challenge him to talk to us.  We would let him know that, as we said, Moslems are welcome in America, but under no circumstance will we allow our Constitution to be changed or altered.  We will not tolerate that.

MRS. RONDEAU: Do you think that was his intent?

PASTOR JONES: From what I understand, his intent was to proclaim Sharia here in America, and I believe that he would like to see Sharia instituted around the world.

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Theresa Cao also shared her first-hand account with The Post & Email:

At the most, there were 300 people.  From what I heard, there were different groups present.  I met various people from North Carolina.  There was a motorcycle group who was there for Jesus from North Carolina.  I had an opportunity to pray with the pastor and their team.

One individual drove all the way from Florida to come specifically for this rally.  He said he wanted to come to stand for Jesus.  I met other new friends from Pennsylvania.  A group of friends who actually met me formally in front of the White House was from Seattle, WA.  This group comes regularly to DC to pray, but they came out specifically for this event, and they recognized me from last year.

There was one Muslim there.  He is a what I think you would call a “regular.”  He comes regularly to the White House, I believe daily.  When he came and started saying his Muslim prayers, the crowd gathered around him.  He was alone.  While he was chanting his prayers, the patriots were chanting, “USA, USA, USA!”  Some were chanting, “Jesus, Jesus!” and of course I was chanting right along with them.

One of the team members from Seattle, WA actually prayed for this Muslim man.  It was a wonderful prayer:  that he, too will know the truth God, Yeshua.  That was very special.  The others joined in with that prayer.  I also had an opportunity to have praise and worship music, and we had different prayer gatherings.  We prayed specifically to release God’s love and God’s glory in the midst of all of the chaos.

We believe that this is the answer, that love Himself, Who is Yeshua, is truly the only answer for world Shalom.

I met some locals from DC.  I tried to speak with Frank Gaffney, but he was always busy.  Although the event supposedly started at 11:00, I got there at about 12:30 and was one of the last ones there.  By 3:30, there were only a few people left.

Thank God that the terrorists and their followers did not come.  This is truly God’s mercy and grace for us, for America.  I think this potentially could have been a test run to see what type of reaction we would have , if the American people would stand up and what the numbers would be.  What if they had had hundreds of thousands of Muslims and the maximum of 300 or so that we had?  That’s what I was thinking:  if the New World Order system is testing the waters to see how people would react.

What kind of an action is this, really, when the greatest threat that has just been imposed upon American freedom and our way of life?  What if they realize that the American people aren’t really going to stand united?  They may be more serious next time when they call a rally.

We really need to look at the outcome of this event.  Let’s say they did come.  There was high security:  the Secret Service and others throughout Pennsylvania Avenue.  What could have happened if they had shown up?  The chaos…the American people still haven’t awakened to this present threat.

There were high stakes today, and there was a handful of patriots out there.  So definitely, it was good to meet more new friends.

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In 1899, Sir Winston Churchill wrote of Islam:

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!

Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity.

The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities – but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.

No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”