GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? An associate pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center, which is moving ahead with plans to burn copies of the Muslim holy book on Saturday, said he doubts assertions that burning the Quran will endanger American troops.
"We don't believe it," said Wayne Sapp, 41, who has been a member of the church for 17 years. "The troops knew the dangers before they went over there. They knew the radical element of Islam is there. This is nothing new."
Sapp said the church, headed by Terry Jones, is "still in prayer over the whole thing."
"We are convinced this is the direction God wants us to go," Sapp said. "That's the only reason we're doing it in the first place."
He said the church could still decide not to burn Qurans on Saturday.
"God is leading us right up to the moment," he said. "It's no different than Abraham and his son. God didn't tell him, 'Go right up to the point where you might sacrifice him.' He wanted him to be fully committed. We're prepared to do what we're called to do."
Pastor Terry Jones said at a press conference Wednesday that he has received a lot of encouragement for his protest, with supporters mailing copies of the Islamic holy text to his Gainesville church of about 50 followers. The plan is to incinerated the Qurans in a bonfire Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"As of right now, we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing," said Jones, who took no questions.
Jones has earlier said he has received more than 100 death threats and has started wearing a .40-caliber pistol strapped to his hip since announcing his plan to burn the book Muslims consider the word of God and insist be treated with the utmost respect. The 58-year-old minister proclaimed in July that he would stage "International Burn-a-Quran Day."
Sapp said the church has collected "in excess of 200" copies of the Quran. "We've gotten them from all over the country," he said.
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