Terry Jones led a cult in Germany

We are learning much more about the crazy pastor in Florida who has created a world-wide uproar by threatening to burn the Koran on Sept. 11.  It turns out that Terry Jones is well known to German authorities since for 20 years he led a "Christian" sect in a working class neighborhood of Cologne:

In the United States, Jones has already attracted attention on several occasions as an Islamophobic provocateur. What is less well known is that the pastor led a charismatic evangelical church, the Christian Community of Cologne, in the western German city up until 2009. Last year, however, the members of the congregation kicked founder Jones out, because of his radicalism. One of the church's current leaders, Stephan Baar, also told the German news agency DPA that there had been suspicions of financial irregularities in the church surrounding Jones.

A "climate of fear and control" had previously prevailed in the congregation, says one former member of the church who does not want to be named. Instead of free expression, "blind obedience" was demanded, he says.

Jones' daughter still lives in the Rhineland region and has this to say about her father:

Jones' daughter, Emma Jones, who still lives in Germany, was one of those accusing her father and stepmother of wrongdoing. Emma Jones had broken with the church, calling it a "cult" that "forced us with oppression to be obedient."

"They used mental violence. They'd say, 'If you're not obedient, God will punish you,' " Emma Jones told The Gainesville Sun.
Other former church members in Florida and Germany also described Jones' style as abusive and cult-like.

In Cologne, Terry Jones preached hatred of Muslims and Gays and encouraged his followers to beat their children. The city of Cologne itself, Jones preached, was the "gate to Hell."  The German members of Terry Jones' "church" finally had the good sense to send him packing.  Back in the US, Jones was viewed as something of a hero by leaders of the Republican Party - a poster-boy for "Germany's persecution of Christians."  Still, Pastor Jones only managed to find a handful of followers and would have faded into obscurity if GOP leaders such as Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin hadn't created an atmosphere of anti-Muslim hysteria in the US.

Terry Jones' former followers in Cologne have renounced him completely, but the crazy pastor still has some fans in Germany.  The right-wing hate blog Politically Incorrect sees him as a hero, and endorses the logic of burning the Koran:

...der Koran als Leitfaden des Menschenhasses, der Unfreiheit und Unterdrückung (darf) natürlich verbrannt werden, weil jeder Koran weniger dazu beiträgt, die Welt zu einem besseren Ort zu machen.

(Of course the Koran should be burned since it is a guideline for hate, bondage and oppression, and each Koran that is destroyed makes the world a better place.)

Comments

[Zyme]

A cult in Germany, when I first saw this it made me smile :)

I can't wait to see how many backward people will kill themselves this time because a few hundred pages making a book are burned on a completely differnet part in the world.

Competition is going to be tough this year when it comes to the Darwin Award!

Honestly I think this author is right in his analysis:

http://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article9500423/Der-Islam-wird-als-Kultur-untergehen.html

There probably is just too much hurt pride and too bleak a future for them to remain sane.

[David]

@Zyme,

Evidently the crazy pastor is big fan of your hero - Thilo Sarrazin!

See Der Spiegel:

"Terry Jones lobt nicht nur die "Entschlossenheit und Gehorsamkeit" der Deutschen im Zweiten Weltkrieg, er widmet sich auch der aktuellen Politik: "Dieser Banker da bei euch, der steht auf." Damit ist Thilo Sarrazin gemeint, der sich gerade aus dem Vorstand der Bundesbank zurückgezogen hat, nachdem er mit Thesen über Muslime für Aufsehen sorgte, die sich angeblich nicht integrieren wollen."

[Zyme]

:)

Apropos Sarrazin - Spiegel Online seems to have loosened censorship in its forums. No other reason is possible to explain this one:

http://forum.spiegel.de/showthread.php?t=20620

The central council of jews in Germany is very unhappy (to say the least) with how the central bank has agreed with Sarrazin. If you are interested in a harsh reality check, take a look at the comments.

[John in Michigan, USA]

Which is the cult...the sectarian cleric who threatened to burn a holy book (but in the end did not) or the members of the sects who rioted, causing multiple murders worldwide, because of the mere threat of burning one (1) copy of "their" book.

Actually, its a false choice. Shouldn't we use the word 'cult' to describe all of these types of sects (those who would burn, and those who would riot over a single burning)?

Since I'm sure to be intentionally misunderstood: most Muslims did NOT riot over the near-burning of their holy book (and most non-Muslims repudiated Jones' threat.)