A Friend of Bravus?

[Dr. Shane]

Australian lawyer smokes pages of Bible and Koran, asking 'Which is best?'

Quote:

An Australian lawyer, Alex Stewart, has smoked pages torn from the Koran and the Bible, posting the video on YouTube just days after an American Pastor's threat to burn the Muslim holy book caused worldwide outrage.

In a 12-minute clip entitled "Bible or Koran – which burns best?" Mr Stewart, who works for the Queensland University of Technology, holds up the two religious texts before ripping them apart and lighting the rolled up pages.

At one stage he inhales deeply from one of the roll-ups before blowing out the smoke and commenting: "Holy"...

Mr Stewart, a member of an atheist group in Brisbane, has begun a period of leave following a meeting with his employers today. He insists he wasn't smoking drugs in the video but had sprinkled grass cuttings into the rolled up pages.

"The university is obviously extremely, extremely unhappy and disappointed that this sort of incident should occur," Queensland University of Technology vice-chancellor Peter Coaldrake said.

Islamic groups urged Muslims not to react to the provocation

"There is no need for this kind of thing, just to create disunity and disharmony among people living in Australia," said Sheik Muhammad Wahid, president of the Islamic Association of Australia.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Interesting that we aren't hearing a worldwide outcry about that...both from the Islamic community and the Christian community.

I guess it isn't as dramatic if it isn't in the USA.

[Bravus]

Hehe - I work at the University of Queensland, which is considered the top university in Brisbane and 3rd or 4th top in Australia. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is one of 3 other universities in Brisbane that are definitely good unis but on a lower tier...

This guy is just an attention-seeking idiot: I kinda hope that QUT does punt him for bringing their name into disrepute. Even under academic freedom it's hard to find any reasons to support idiocy.

[phkrause]

Interesting that we aren't hearing a worldwide outcry about that...both from the Islamic community and the Christian community.

I guess it isn't as dramatic if it isn't in the USA.

I agree with you rudywoofs, and I think its because the media here makes everything bigger than it should be. All these people want is to be on the news and they know that in the US they will be the story of the day.

[Bravus]

Yeah, I was just thinking about the role of the media. Without it, we'd never have heard of this idiot: which is as it should be.

[Dr. Shane]

I think it is all about the role of the media. The media used some stupid pastor of some dinky congregation that no one cares about to drive up all kinds of ratings. The pastor got fired from his last job for stealing from the church. I mean, really, who cares if he burns a Koran?

So I guess this means you have never done coffee and donuts with the Australian lawyer, huh?

[Amelia]

Gosh Bravus, I thought you and Nan knew EVERYONE down under.