October 16th, 2010
09:56 AM ET

Controversial pastor gets free car for not burning Quran

The Rev. Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who caused a firestorm last month when he came close to staging a public Quran burning, is getting a new car courtesy of a New Jersey dealership.

In the run-up to the planned book-burning, Brad Benson Hyundai in New Brunswick offered Jones a vehicle if the pastor backed down on his threat.

“We heard on the news that he was going to burn the Quran," Benson Hyundai general manager David Canton told CNN on Saturday.

After condemnations from around the world, Jones called off the burning.

A representative from Jones' church, Dove World Outreach Center, called Benson Hyundai recently to see whether the offer was still good, Canton said.

It was. Jones is getting a 2011 Hyundai Accent, valued at around $13,600.

"He stood up to his end of the bargain and we’re standing up to ours,” Canton said.

A woman who answered the phone Saturday at Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, said Jones would donate the car to a Muslim charity.

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Filed under: New Jersey • Religion
soundoff (567 Responses)
  1. Cynthia Rutherford

    I CAN NOT BELIEVE A MAN OF GOD WOULD DO A BURNING LIKE THIS OR ACCEPT A FREE ANYTHING.WHATS THIS COUNTRY COMING TO.IF I WAS IN HIS CHURCH....I WOULDN'T BE. JUST BECAUSE HE WAS OFFERED THE CAR DOESN'T MEAN HE HAD TO TAKE IT.I WOULD BE CHECKING THE CHURCHES FINANCES.

    October 17, 2010 at 5:12 pm | Report abuse |
  2. scott

    Reminder: we are at war with muslim extremists who are slowly taking over our country while all of u are pacifying yourselves by joking. U are a bunch of head in the sand liberals who are afraid to stand up for this country and you will surely help us lose our country by being wimps.

    October 18, 2010 at 8:25 am | Report abuse |
  3. rh

    PLEASE CNN update this story, as the pastor donated his car to a Jersey City women's shelter.

    Isn't there some way that GOOD stories can be promoted more than BAD stories?

    October 23, 2010 at 10:26 am | Report abuse |
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