Gay Artist Burns Rare $60,000.00 Koran

"Both ancient books are terrorist manuals."

Oh, sure they are. And it's clear he believes his own claims of equivalence between the two books. That's why he chose to burn his Koran in "an undisclosed Chicago location" whereas his Bible defacements are apparently quite disclosed:

"Merrill is also a performance artist who makes his attitudes toward Christianity uncompromisingly clear; he uses scissors and a black marker to edit Thomas Kinkade's Family Bible by cutting and striking out the hateful passages in the text."

(from http://religion.gaynewsblog.net/2007/06/gay-artist-edits-bible-with-black.html)

God preserve us from the 'fervent atheists' and their singleminded arid purpose. Check out his webpage

http://www.merrillcharles.com/

The Dawkins! The Hitchens! The horror!

...It is his book to do with, what ever he chooses to do....He should have done it after first calling the newspapers and asking them to provide photographers.....This would have been worth seeing on the news....

Islamic Rage Boy may have something to say about this.

I'm appalled by the mutilation of ANY book, whether the Quran, Mein Kampf, Catcher in the Rye, or a Harlequin romance.

Quote:"Merrill is a self-made millionaire, artist, fervent atheist and cousin of the co-founder of Merrill Lynch"

He is also a fool who is so obsessed about being gay that he totally misses the point. Why burn ONE Koran? Burn the LOT!!!!

I hope, for his sake, that he has bodyguards unless he has an insane desire to be a martyr.

The result of shallowness...

"cousin of the co-founder of Merrill Lynch"

When this man, a relative of the late James Merrill, and of James Merrill's surviving brother, Charles Merrill, founder and semi-enlightened despot, of the Commonwealth School in Boston, burns a Qur'an, chooses to make a point, if indeed that was his aim (to make a point and not a splash) he does so in a sensationalist way that only plays into the hands of CAIR and other Muslim apologists.

Indeed, in his obvious disequilibrium, he puts one in mind most of the well-heeled batallion of the psychically marginal who have "discovred" Islam. That is, his similes or doubles or sosies are to be found among those who have fallen head over heels for Islam, as the answer to that Spiritual Search ("I wandered around, and finally found..."), Complete-Regulation-of-Life-and Total-Explanation-of-the-Universe Islam.

In other words, one sniffs in the air a hint of the same mental state as can be found among rich Western semi-dementedconverts to Islam, the Robert D. Cranes, and Yahya Burts, and John Walker Lindhs.

As for the hay to be made while the sun shines on CAIR, don't give an inch on this. This was not the act of a "hate campaign" or a "climate of hate" and a "need for hate crime legislation" -- note calmly that a demented individual is very different from a systematic campaign. And that, furthermore, such a systematic campaign of hatred can be found here and elsewhere, and then proceed to read, for the audience, from those pamphlets that Freedom House investigators discovered in Saudi-funded mosques all over the United States.

Now that is a "campaign of hate." Merrill's idiotic behavior, on the other hand, is merely designed to attract attention to him, and is akin to the chocolate-smearing of Karen Findley, or Jeff Koons marrying the Italian star of pornographic films Cicciolina, or for that matter that "work of transgressive art," consisting of her own ummade bed, complete with used kleenexes, used tampax, and worn underwear, by British "artist" Tracy Emin, who won the Tate Prize for her "art." That's what is going on here.

There are many atheists, my father among them, you in their ignorance think all religions are the same. Well, Mr. Merril is going to find out soon, as soon as the Islamists hear about the torched Koran, how different Islam is from every other religion. Good thing he's rich, he's going to need some serious security.

I know the Koran is evil but burning something of historical value is just vandalsim, why not burn a brand new copy? Clown.

"I inherited the rare Islamic book from my late wife, Evangeline Johnson Merrill. Evangeline was given the rare manuscript by the late King of Jordan when she was on a mission for the United Nations in the 1950's." - Charles Merrill

And it was worth $60,000? And you burned it? What a dork. Self-righteous attention seeking at its very worst.

Ignoring the sacrilege of burning such a rare book, if he'd wanted to make a statement, why didn't he auction it, first stating publicly that he couldn't bear to have such a "terrorist manual" in his house. He could have donated the money raised to a veterans' charity, or to buy books, treats etc for service personnel out in Iraq and Afghanistan. He could have done so much with that money... what a waste.

Burning a Koran, whether antique and valuable or new cheap paperback, is an empty gesture of protest. Merrill would be better off using black marker and scissors on the same book, either antique or new, and cut out all the hate and violence from its pages, to gage the value thereof by what is left readable. Not much, a few leafs of Koran left over, barely a book remaining. The Bible by contrast would remain a much more robust book. The comparison is odious.

An atheist's criticism of other people's belief systems carries little weight, if reciprocity is to be applied, an empty gesture. Islam can be better than it is today, same as the old Bible has lost it violent luster in our reading, except their "true" believers are doing their best to drag down their own with violence and hate. Their Koran is their "cross" to bear in today's hate filled Islam.

"'Airplanes are flown into buildings because of words, and hate crimes against gays,' Merrill said."

Huh? That sentence doesn't even make sense.

It's as if he adds, "and hate crimes against gays", to the end of every sentence, just in case it fits.

"That store clerk was rude to me, and hate crimes against gays."

"My shoes are too tight, and hate crimes against gays."

He should've sold it and donated the money to a Holocaust musuem or the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Idiot.

Note that he burned it in an undisclosed Chicago location.

It's a start but I wonder if he edited the Bible in the same undisclosed location or if he had the courage to tear up that book on Michigan Avenue?

The fact that he destroyed the Qur'an in an undisclosed location shows it to be a terrorist manual to this day. I'd like to know where he did the damage to the Bible and who was around to witness it. That would be most telling.

I disagree with his equating the Bible with the Quran, although his act of striking out hateful passages in the Bible stands in contrast to his burning of the Quran, and demonstrates that subconsciously, he knows the difference between the 2. (Note that he didn't burn the Bible, or mark out hateful passages in the Quran - for the latter, there would have been very few passages untouched)

I also disagree with those above who suggest that he should have sold that Quran - while there is a good chance that it would have resulted being someone's art exhibit - clearly an undeserved status - any buyer who sank that sort of cash into it was very likely to read it, more likely than not favorably, and act on it. Had such a buyer been a Mohammedan, he'd have gone from a nominal Muslim to a devout one, with all that that implies; had he been an Dhimmi, he'd probably have followed the footsteps of Lindh, Barot, Padilla, Reid, et al. Given his options, he did the right thing.

Although given that he burned it in an undisclosed location, the least he should have done was call in a limited media, and have them publicize it. Or put it up on YouTube (if he hasn't already). But other than that, I disagree with those above who condemn his act of burning the Quran.

If he had auctioned the book (which may be an accidental work of art by virtue of the human skills involved, no matter what garbage the text is) he could have put up a staTue to Pim Fortuyn in Brussels with the profits.

And help awaken the West to the threat of resurgent imperialistic and intolerant Islam.

I suspect this burning never took place (or he used a color xerox if he recorded the act) and this is merely a bit of conceptual guerrilla theater.

He needs to spread the dread, not inflate his ego.

And not simply witlessly outrage people - in the West, especially, who appreciate the artistic value of hand-made manuscripts- with the mere destruction of a book (which is more Islamic and fascistic than Western).

"GAY Artist Burns Rare $60,000.00 Koran"

"I inherited the rare Islamic book from my late WIFE, Evangeline Johnson Merrill."

Anyone notice that?

Merrill is a self-made millionaire, artist, fervent atheist and cousin of the co-founder of Merrill Lynch.
--article--

Also, an ill-informed, self-centered, myopic, hyper-sensitive, attentiion whore. Soon to be "the late Charles Merrill", if the Islamists get their hands on him.

He could have put it up at ebay, sold it to someone from the Gulf, and then sent the proceeds Jihadwatchwards. Yes, to the good grey sober people at the Jihad Watch and Ward Society. Why didn't he?

What also disturbs about this deliberately sensational act (that should have brought tears to the booksellers at Joffa Books, and Francis Edwards, and Quaritch, not to mention the ghost of A. Edward Newton) is its limited nature. When there are protests by sine about "the treatment of women" in Islam, or protests about the "treatment of homosexuals" in Islam by others, and the "treatment of discrete group X or Y" in Islam by sitll others, and when, furthermore, no connect-the-dots effort is made to figure out what it is about all of these events that should make them part of one large howl of protest against Islam, and above all, against how, in Islam, non-Muslims (including heterosexual men, as well as women, and homosexuals) are regarded and treated.

Only Connect. The Dots.

I suspect he is about to find out that islam is a bigger threat to his life than Christianity.

Just wait till they hear about this in Pakistan! (or Bradford for that matter).

He's not an artist. He's an iconoclast. And I did notice that he's "gay" and had a "late wife".

Some people will do anything for attention.

This person (he certainly is not a real man) has no regard for anything other than his whiney elitist and meaningless ideology. His actions do nothing for the promotion of gay rights. By equating Biblical doctrine with that of the koran, all he has suceeded in doing is further the alienation between Christians and Homosexuals. He has in effect shown his own intolerance and ignorance of Christianity.

He would have suceeded much more if he had returned the book to King Abhullah of Jordan with a statement about the text regarding homosexuality. In effect it wasn't even his book to burn as it was a gift to his wife to begin with.

I wonder how many Christians and Homosexuals will be murdered in retribution to this silly pseudo-artist.

That guy will find out. Some cleric right now is probably issueing a Fatwa against him just like Salman Rushdie. Hope he keeps looking over his shoulder.

I don't think Hindus, Buddhists, animists, Zoroastrians and other non-Abrahamic religions are too high on tolerating homosexual behavior. Only the Christian West tolerates homosexual behavior, so destroying the basis of that society is not going to bring about the homosexual utopia. If you can't recognize your friends and differentiate your enemies, you're worthless.

This is one confused guy.

He's gay, but he had a wife. He thinks Islam and Christianity are the same. He needs some help.

I wonder if Islamist vigilante killers would accept an "insanity defence" from Merrill for the Koran torching?

Who really cares what this man's motivations are? His act is still a good thing and none of us should speak against him. We should not want to prevent him from criticizing, even perpetrating idiotic "performances" like this. That he lumps Islam and Christianity together might be offensive to some, they DO belong together in one particular way: they both need to be criticized, openly and without fear, particularly their literary foundations. Anyone who has read the Bible and the Quran (and Hadith, Sharia, etc) knows which one can withstand scrutiny and which cannot. If we can get to the point where even leftist radicals are attacking Islam, it will be a great step forward. This will open space for better founded critique. I do not mean that Islam's attitude toward homosexuals is not important, just that Mr. Merrill has not thought through the consequences of his critique as well as others.

Can the community who are willing to criticize Islam and resist Jihad stop attacking people like Merrill, and instead keep the focus on the insanity of the Islamic literary canon and the personage of Muhammad?

The dude should have sold the damn cursed thing and used the proceeds to buy as many of the wretched things as he could with the proceeds and burned the pile of them. Now that would have been a protest that couldn't have been hidden. What a great YouTube moment.

Quijybo,

You quoted:

"That he lumps Islam and Christianity together might be offensive to some, they DO belong together in one particular way: they both need to be criticized, openly and without fear, particularly their literary foundations."

People criticize Christianity all the time and manage to keep their heads. When I changed denominations for reasons of doctrine (i.e., "literary foundations"), I never felt like I had to look over my shoulder. It's the objective criticism of Christian doctrine that has kept it alive and growing. This is something that is lacking in the practice of islam. Questioning islamic religious leaders can get you killed.

Please provide scripture from the NEW TESTIMENT that states that homosexuals should be killed by Christians.

One more time: When Liberals equate Christianity with Islam all they accomplish is the exposure of their own ignorance of Christian doctrine. They just look plain silly and irrelevant. And in the long run, what do they really accomplish?

Burning, defacing, or deliberately destroying books of any kind, whether as a symbolic protest or as a real attempt to control what people read and think, is a despicable act, particularly for someone who calls himself an "artist." And yes, he's in for a nasty surprise if he expects the same kind of pious tut-tutting he got when he desecrated the Bible. What this guy can't seem to get his head around is that Christians - even the most homophobic,narrow-minded ones - are taught to pray for those who insult their faith. Muslims are taught to kill them. That, my friend, is an important difference.

Never_submit,

I don't think there is anything in the New Testament that is remotely as violent as the Quran - I am not equating the two in content. I am abundantly aware of the differences. My point has nothing to do with the content of either.

My position is that criticism of Islam should always be defended, no matter how off base the critique, or how objectionable the one who is doing the criticism. Criticism of Islam should be defended even if the person doing the criticizing does not understand the difference between Islam and other religions. Truth has a way of rising to the top, as long as it is not violently suppressed, and Merrill's act, foolish as it is, serves that aim. The more targets the Islamic religious authorities, Jihadis and outraged Muslims in general have, the harder pressed they will be to silence them, and the easier it will be for the more important critics to speak.

That is what Merrill, and anyone, who criticized Islam, accomplishes. There is a difference between merely equating Christianity with Islam, which is a factual error common among the ignorant, and asserting one's right to criticize Islam, something that all free people should endorse. We all know which religion can sustain itself under criticism and scrutiny, and which must be violently protected from criticism in order to survive.

That guy will find out. Some cleric right now is probably issueing a Fatwa against him just like Salman Rushdie. Hope he keeps looking over his shoulder. -Posted by: callmeinfidel

It is Friday after all. (shakes head in agreement)

CAIR has yet to show any outrage over the Mosques and Qurans that were in the Twin Towers
that those non-Muslims flew planes into , after all Hooper...IF they weren't ture Muslims then why have a sellective anger that doesn't care about the Muslims killed on 9/11 or the Qurans that Muslim workers kept with them during the workday.

Hooper will never condemn the actual 19 hijackers because they ARE followers of Islam and Muhammed , and Hooper will NEVER be angry over the Qurans or Mosques that were destroyed by his Brothers on 9/11 because is all part ot Jihad and martyrdome to spead Islam for Allah's cause.

Even CAIR-Canada has yet to condemn the 19 hijackers or Hamas and Hezbollah , so basically a weasel by any other name is still a weasel.

I personally don't care that this idiot burned a Quran, what bugs me is the typical moral relativist reason that he did it for. I quoted on an earlier post about a few gals I work with who are gay, and a couple of them are very open to logical debate, however there is one amongst them that makes everything about her being gay.

I'm in agreement with those here who sees this as another stunt only because he's gay. Now on the flip side this may be alright, simply because he's going to die because of this action; many other moral relativists of his ilk may become aware of the real differences between Christianity and Islam.

If this man were not gay, he would have been charged with a "hate crime." I doubt CAIR and company will come out against this because they need the support of the Political Left.

Witless moral equivalence, yes. But lots of guts. Or else the guy is a moron who doesn't realize he's just earned a death sentence in the eyes of millions.

non-redneck, it's not a hate crime to burn your own property in the privacy of your own home. If he took his burning Koran and shoved it in a Muslim's face, or started cursing threateningly about Islam to Muslim passersby, that would perhaps be considered a hate crime...

Quijybo, the fanatic, and others: It's not that he burned a koran that's objectionable--he could have burned a cheap copy he picked up at Barnes & Noble. But he burned a rare manuscript and work of art. For an idea of what that means, go to Google Images and search on the keywords koran+calligraphy.

Quijybo,

Thanks for your post. I appreciate it. I think we are really on the same page about this...

God preserve us from the 'fervent atheists' and their singleminded arid purpose. Check out his webpage

http://www.merrillcharles.com/

The Dawkins! The Hitchens! The horror!
Posted by: Dane

Either way.. by the way.. I looked up this guy's 'artwork' and it is PRETTY BAD.. not only in concept btu also in execution.

NONETHELESS.. the KKKoran-burning took tremendous guts.. he will have to answer not only to fatwas but also to his many Liberal friends in the art scene.

I almost wonder if the islamos will try and ignore this one seeing how they love the Liberal Foundation money coming their way if not directly then at least by way of maniplulated opinion on NPR and PBS, which many of these Foundations are guilty of funding.

See also The [Theresa] Heinz Foundation..

Scary what these Foundations are funding if you take the time to research like I have done in the past..

"Both ancient books are terrorist manuals."

Oh, sure they are. And it's clear he believes his own claims of equivalence between the two books. That's why he chose to burn his Koran in "an undisclosed Chicago location" whereas his Bible defacements are apparently quite disclosed:

Obviously.. on the positive side.. this indicates that a member of the American Ruling Class [which this member of the Merrill Family obviously is] is completely aware of all the implications of islam.. not ONLY for gays.. even if that's what he is playing up.

The FACT that he did this at an "undisclosed location" WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA demonstrates an acute awareness of the potential consequences of this man's actions.

He may indeed be speaking less to us [the 'common folk'] and the islamo-fascist hordes than he may indeed be speaking TO HIS OWN!!!

Get mah drift here??

This guy is NOT a very good artist by talent. I looked him up. He has a show right now on Lower Broadway in New York somewhere.

If he has any brains he KNOWS he'd never be showing anywhere if he didn't have the connections he has.

So.. assuming this element of self-awareness and a concomitant ability to cast aside any man's naturally given narcissism..

..he may well be trying to TELL **THEM** SOMETHING!!!

Yeah, I mean the Bushes and the Vanderbilts and the Roosevelts and whomever is still kicking around in WASP-Landia.. steering their fashionably aged Plymouths past the "deer Xing" signs on the Cape or on the Vineyard after a couple or more late afternoon gin-and-tonics.

This guy is definitely speaking to the DEM-crowd of things and I HOPE I am correct in my assumption that he is indeed intending to sound the Beacon Call..

The WASPS have very much to lose indeed.. and so do the gays of course.. especially the sheltered non-working privileged ones. And in affect WE ALL have so very much to lose..

Which is why You and I are here so very often.. brought together by OUR Commmon Concern and Cause.. from many different backgrounds and ideologies..

I know I have other things I'd LOVE to devote this time to.. and I imagine so do most if not all of you.

WE HAVE LIVES!!!

And since we realize there is a very real and tangible THREAT against our very lives and our WAY OF LIFE we are coming together in places such as this one.

THANK GOD for giving US [I mean OUR Best Minds - not mine in particular] the inventiveness and the Creativity to bring forth this marvelous tool of Free and unencumbered communication and research andf information-gathering and -sharing!

If it weren't for this very internet I might still think I am the ONLY person on Earth who has some VERY intense and well-founded misgivings about the cult called islam.

Thank God indeed that I have been able to meet you people not only in this but an increasing numbver of other consciousness-raising web forums!

I don't know what I'd be doing right now if I didn't KNOW that there are actually OTHERS out there who share my misgivings about the ROP®.

Thank you all!

LIVE LONG AND DEFEAT ISLAM!!!

Quote:"Merrill is a self-made millionaire, artist, fervent atheist and cousin of the co-founder of Merrill Lynch"

He's a self-made millionaire and Kenny G. is a serious Jazz Artist.

Nonetheless.. this guy MAY just be using his privileged position in life to call serious attention to a VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM.

So.. bad artist and privileged rich boy that he is.. and who would cast aside these perks if they were bestowed on us in this infinite Lottery of Life?

So.. maybe he HAS seen the Light and he KNOWS how to communicate to the very people whom we are so very frustrated with on this very board, among many.

To burn a $60.000 item will cause some SERIOUS SHIVERS of disbelief and disgust among the bluebloods who inhabit the most carefree and lovely summer residences not only in America, but world-wide.

I know whereof I speak.. they have MONEY beyond belief and yet they count the oysters they eat in Wellfleet for fear of being accidentally - or *gasp* intentionally - overcharged.

The art galleries and bad shows originating from this class of people is legendary in Manhattan. LOL.. It's funny enough but not for a full-length movie by any means..

So I have to assume that this artist[e] has FIGURED out something.. which is actually VERY easy to figure out.. and he has chosen to use his particular means to communicate his misgivings to his Social Peers..

Like I said.. they're much more more likely to be in shock about someone of their group burning a $60,000 book than about the fact that the book he burned was a KKKoran!

Once that sinks in they will HAVE CAUSE to THINK!!!

As in.. WAKE UP, PEOPLE!!!!