Gay artist burns $60,000 Koran to protest homophobic hate
posted at 6:59 pm on July 27, 2007 by Allahpundit
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He got it from his late … wife?
Charles Merrill, the artist who recently edited the Holy Bible with a black marker and pair of scissors, has lately burned a rare Islamic Holy Book, The Koran, valued at $60,000.00, in an undisclosed Chicago location. “The purpose of editing and burning Abrahamic Holy Books is to eliminate homophobic hate,” Merrill stated. “Both ancient books are terrorist manuals.”
He continues, “I inherited the rare Islamic book from my late wife, Evangeline Johnson Merrill. As the daughter of the founder of the international pharmaceutical giant, Johnson and Johnson, Inc., doors of kings and queens opened to her around the world. 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.”
“Airplanes are flown into buildings because of words, and hate crimes against gays,” Merrill said.
Merrill is a self-made millionaire, artist, fervent atheist and cousin of the co-founder of Merrill Lynch.
It’ll be interesting to see how this comment thread shakes out. Heh.
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Well, my entertainment for the night is set. Have at it folks!
Number 2 on July 27, 2007 at 7:04 PM
Of course he did it in secret. When this artist destroyed the Bible, he did it everyone could see. Coward. Hypocrite.
pat on July 27, 2007 at 7:04 PM
I would have sold the $60K version and burned a $6.95 paperback, but I guess I’m not as smart as an artist.
RedWinged Blackbird on July 27, 2007 at 7:05 PM
How is burning the Koran in an undisclosed location considered art? Did he take pictures or a movie of it?
FloatingRock on July 27, 2007 at 7:05 PM
Allah Akbar!!!! Kill the Infidel!!! in 5,4,3,2…
Guardian on July 27, 2007 at 7:06 PM
How long till Islamic Rage boy wigs out and bursts into flames ?
William Amos on July 27, 2007 at 7:07 PM
I wonder how Chuck will feel if some gay Jordanian is killed specifically and publicly because of this.
eeyore on July 27, 2007 at 7:08 PM
Is it just me or does this statement say that part of the motivation behind 9/11 was anger over hate crimes against gays?
Kowboy on July 27, 2007 at 7:09 PM
This was a great comment over there by Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg , Fri, 27 Jul 2007 16:24:07 GMT.
Guardian on July 27, 2007 at 7:10 PM
What he did wasn’t art–it was destructive vandalism–pure and simple. Also, as pointed out, he revealed his cowardice by performing his act in secret. While he is correct in pointing out the violent homophobic undercurrent in Islam today, this does not make his case. Instead it shows him to be a childish, destructive, little man.
If he wants to confront Islam as regards its homophobia–then he should do so, openly. Confront it with art: painting, sculpture, verse, music, satire–not through the mindless destruction of art.
Matt Helm on July 27, 2007 at 7:10 PM
thread over.
tad on July 27, 2007 at 7:11 PM
There is no reason for Christians or Atheists to respect Islam anymore than Muslims respect us. Burning the Koran is perhaps a little excessive. Thank of the greenhouse gases!
Here’s what we can do: I make a point of keeping my Koran on the lowest bookshelf in my house and if I’m reading it I use my shoe as a bookmark.
thuja on July 27, 2007 at 7:11 PM
doesn’t seem like art to me, but i’m glad to see it. you know, for the sake of ballance. i don’t like seeing people as hipicrits and cowards, and “cultural workers” had aqquired that reputation with me for obvious reasons.
jummy on July 27, 2007 at 7:13 PM
Hey, he’s entitled to do whatever he wants with his belongings, at least he took his frustration out on inatimate objects that he owns, I still think he’s a bit of a loon, but he’s allowed.
bbz123 on July 27, 2007 at 7:14 PM
How is a Koran considered art?
lowandslow on July 27, 2007 at 7:14 PM
I’d rather see The Chicken That Can Cluck “Allahu Akbar”.
(Will somebody please upload that to Youtube… all you need is some hen stock footage and a fowl vocalist.)
This “artiste” should have sold the book and erected a statue to gay Dutch political figure Pim Fortuyn, who was assassinated for suggesting that immigration of Muslims to his country be stopped.
It’s the contents of the Koran, not the literal book, that needs to be cleansed.
profitsbeard on July 27, 2007 at 7:15 PM
For $60K he could have burned 8,633 paperbacks, probably enough to heat his home for several years. The Noble Koran – the perfect alternate energy source.
RedWinged Blackbird on July 27, 2007 at 7:15 PM
the sad thing is that he did it in secret to protect himself, not from the likes of islamic rage boy, but from other gays and artists allong with various other elements of the urban progressive elite.
jummy on July 27, 2007 at 7:15 PM
It sounds like he owned the Koran.
FloatingRock on July 27, 2007 at 7:16 PM
I’m sure he will sit down with an Islamic scholar and work it all out. Outbursts like this are so counterproductive. All they need is “dialogue” and thier diametrically opposed views will magically be solved.
Resolute on July 27, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Red, you’re not thinking like a business man who has a studio full of product that isn’t moving. With coverage of this “event,” sales will be up in no time.
Anyway, I like the touch about being self-made millionaire. The only way this trust baby was self made was if he was thrown out for doing drugs on a property the Johnson or Merrill families didn’t want confiscated.
pedestrian on July 27, 2007 at 7:17 PM
Somewhere, in a secret headquarters, deep in the Middle East, Islamic Rage Boy, has felt a disturbance in the force and prepares for his next deployment.
JayHaw Phrenzie on July 27, 2007 at 7:17 PM
9/11 really DID happen because of gay people? Let me guess. Next thing, the truthers will say 9/11 was an inside job because…
George Bush doesn’t care about gay people.
CyberCipher on July 27, 2007 at 7:18 PM
Since he burned it in an undisclosed location, there’s a good chance that he didn’t burn anything at all ($60,000 copy or $6.99 copy).
While he’s at it, why doesn’t he ‘burn’ an original Shakespearean folio in an undisclosed location too…..
Unless he’s got some evidence of having done it, I’m thinking it probably didn’t happen. He’s just looking to get attention, and, when he discovers that he gets an unpleasant kind of attention, he’ll back track and produce the $60,000 book faster than you can say ‘fatwa’.
JadeNYU on July 27, 2007 at 7:18 PM
Perhaps, my last post was too flippant. After 14 centuries of muslims do everything that they can do to destroy the artifacts of other religions–Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian or whatever–I think it’s time to burn the historical artifacts of their hateful religion. The muslims should reap what they have sown.
So, more power to Mr. Merrill for his flaming Koran! On the other hand, I don’t think it is wise at this point in time for atheists and Christians to engage in holy war with each other. Burning a Bible is just wrong at the current time. And at no time is it appropriate to destroy a Bible with historical worth, as Christians have behaved much better.
thuja on July 27, 2007 at 7:21 PM
I have no doubt that Charley burned his Bible, but in the case of the Quran, how do we know that it wasn’t just “spontaneous combustion?”
CyberCipher on July 27, 2007 at 7:24 PM
Oh gee…what a rebel…
EnochCain on July 27, 2007 at 7:25 PM
Yeah, that’ll work. Talk about stuck on stupid.
jdawg on July 27, 2007 at 7:26 PM
Hey AP…from the article, it doesn’t look like Merril himself is gay. It’s says he’s a gay rights activist & artist, but it didn’t actually say he was gay…..not that there’s anything wrong with that.
JadeNYU on July 27, 2007 at 7:26 PM
Of course in the Madras the Immams will be spreading the story that this shows how corrupt the west is because we are run by homosexuals who defame Islams holy book. And that is one more reason we must be converted by the sword.
William Amos on July 27, 2007 at 7:26 PM
To put it politely, I’m not a fan of Islam (neither the mainstream “moderate” kind nor the Wahabbi jihadist kind). However, civilized people don’t burn rare books. What this guy did is cultural vandalism, plain and simple.
One of the barbaric acts (other than killing people) of the Afganistan Taliban government was the destruction of ancient statues of the Buddha carved into a cliff. Ongoing barbaric acts of the Egyptian Brotherhood include the destruction of ancient Egyptian statues, since depictions of the human form are forbidden in their understanding of Islamic art. I’m sure these tools all hate Buddha and the Pharos as much as Mr. Gay Artist hates Allah, but I’m fairly sure he would be properly horrified at their actions.
He would have done better to cut Ayaan Hirsi Ali a check for $60K so she can pay for more bodyguards and more ammo. That would be a much more effective action against radical Islam.
Anton on July 27, 2007 at 7:27 PM
Just imagine if this had been some televangelist or rightwinger doing this
Kos and the left would be marching to burn down the guys house
So I think we will see this stroy deeply buried in the MSM
William Amos on July 27, 2007 at 7:30 PM
At 60K, other than likely historic value, I suspect an exquisite binding and extraordinary illuminations.
eeyore on July 27, 2007 at 7:30 PM
?Fervant? atheist
How about devout atheist? Proselytizing. Evangelical (def #6) even.
Stephen M on July 27, 2007 at 7:30 PM
If this gets enough publicity to wake up some members of the gay community of the real evil Islam is, maybe it was worth it.
lowandslow on July 27, 2007 at 7:31 PM
60k is probably nothing to him, the historic value to others is what is lost. It’s perfectly legal to destroy or dispose of your own personal property. The book is gone, homophobic hate in this world–not so much, not with a bonfire of religious books.
nyrofan on July 27, 2007 at 7:31 PM
The $60,000 question is, does he have a war-on-terror bumper sticker on his Jaguar.
Because if he does I would like to see a debate between him and Silky.
Mcguyver on July 27, 2007 at 7:33 PM
Medieval and early modern manuscripts of the Koran were frequently embellished with art very similar to that of medieval Bibles and Torahs.
While he does have the right to dispose of his property as he sees fit, as the poster above pointed out, he should have just sold it and donated the money to someone like Ayaan Hirsi Ali or use it to sponsor an artistic exhibit illustrating the homophobic elements of Islam.
Matt Helm on July 27, 2007 at 7:34 PM
I’m generally apposed to burning books, however I see burning a valuable copy of the Koran as a nothing more than token retaliation for all of the destruction by Muslims of non-Islamic religious artifacts.
FloatingRock on July 27, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Interesting.
lowandslow on July 27, 2007 at 7:38 PM
Isnt it funny that is always the left nowadays that is in a rush to burn books or ban free speech ?
William Amos on July 27, 2007 at 7:38 PM
I just burned a first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce because it causes people to roam around in other people’s countries, thereby breaking immigration laws.
I’ll be available for reporters and photographers between 8:30 and 8:45 tonight.
jaime on July 27, 2007 at 7:39 PM
Wow when I first glanced at the headline for the post, I din’t notice the dollar sign; I thought this artist burned 60,000 Korans. Imagine my disappointment.
But at least he’s moving in a slightly better direction, if he previously burned a Bible. We need to pray for this guy, he needs to get the Holy Ghost, know what I’m saying?
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 7:39 PM
Is anyone else wondering how you can have a “wife” and be a “self-made millionaire” when you’re gay and related to the co-founder of Merrill Lynch?
Or how can you be a millionaire gay artist with such an unstylish website?
ScottMcC on July 27, 2007 at 7:40 PM
By the way this gentleman may soon get an opportunity to excercise his second amendment rights here in the near future. I’m sure he could frame it as a perormance art piece somehow.
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 7:45 PM
It’s a good thing this idiot is in a nation run predominatntly by Christians instead of Muslims, otherwise he’d be dead already.
Yet more proof there are no such things as gay people, only homosexuals. Happiness and homosexuality are mutually exclusive.
BKennedy on July 27, 2007 at 7:46 PM
Per-f-ormance. Sorry about the typo.
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 7:46 PM
I would have sold that piece of sh*t and burned the 60,000 paperbacks…
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 7:48 PM
I am not getting all worked up over this. We have seen Piss Christ, Mary in elephant dung, Jesus in chocolate. Muslims have blown up priceless Buddhas (THAT was disturbing) and a host of other destruction.
One more? Feh. This guy is obviously disturbed. How can he think this act will make a difference? Not at all.
If it had been JEFFERSON’S koran, now that would be a different story.
CrimsonFisted on July 27, 2007 at 7:49 PM
It isn’t always. A month or two ago there was a video of a news story about some religious nuts who objected to the book Fahrenheit 451, (which is a classic story about the dangers of fascism and book burning), because a bible is burned in the story. They wanted the book banned from their local schools.
They had apparently read Fahrenheit 451, (without comprehension), because they had their own copy in which they’d highlighted all of the “offensive” passages.
I’m not positive, but I think they may have burned a copy of Fahrenheit 451 during a little protest rally they held. They were so stupid it was hilarious.
FloatingRock on July 27, 2007 at 7:50 PM
Madam Butterfly?
Kini on July 27, 2007 at 7:52 PM
From Merrill’s web site:
“Using boldly colored acrylic and oil paints on 36 x 48-inch canvases in his most recent work, Merrill’s visual forms are recurring motifs of triangles, circles, lines and arrows which, taken together, create the artist’s visual language of emphatic expression….Many of his compositions recall the styles of Soviet Constructivism and Kandinsky.”
Soviet Constructivism. Figures.
Athanasius on July 27, 2007 at 7:53 PM
I think this could only be real “Art” if it was performed in a public square in Iran.
400lb Gorilla on July 27, 2007 at 7:56 PM
Now if he had only tucked a few copies of the Mo Cartoons in between the pages we could have sat back and watched the cognitive dissonance from Imams who are outraged about the Koran but ecstatic about the cartoons going up in smoke. Plus it would have been much deeper art.
trubble on July 27, 2007 at 7:58 PM
In other news, “It is believed that the fire started in the closet.”
- The Cat
MirCat on July 27, 2007 at 7:58 PM
Ki-Moon refused to comment
- The Cat
MirCat on July 27, 2007 at 8:01 PM
If I would have been there, I would have stopped him. I would’ve pissed on it.
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 8:02 PM
Here’s a link to a news article about the Fahrenheit 451 weirdos:
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17270600&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=532215&rfi=6
I’ll post a link to the video if I can find it.
FloatingRock on July 27, 2007 at 8:03 PM
He didn’t say hatred against gays was related to 9/11 directly. He said that hateful words caused people to fly planes into buildings and hate gays. He linked Islam to terrorism and homophobia basically.
aengus on July 27, 2007 at 8:03 PM
I call BS. Also I feel no need to prove a negative like in the Scott Thomas affair.
He makes positive claims about burning expensive objects, he needs to provide positive proof. Else accept the title of “BS artist”.
TunaTalon on July 27, 2007 at 8:04 PM
Kinf of ironic in light of V For Vendetta. For anyone who hasn’t seen it a Fascist British government execute a gay man for owning a rare copy of the Koran.
aengus on July 27, 2007 at 8:04 PM
Paraphrasing my favorite president, There you go again, trying to make sense out of what this guy’s saying.
oldleprechaun on July 27, 2007 at 8:17 PM
I guess Charlie won’t be joining us here at our Blogging the Quran this Sunday. I was just wondering because he missed last week. He posts under the name Flaming Moe.
sonnyspats1 on July 27, 2007 at 8:21 PM
Ya, I wondered that, myself. Especially since he was married to a Johnson & Johnson heir. Talk about money…
I imagine he travels in the liberal ultra-rich circles, where he pawns off his triangles and squares for insane amounts of money. I think it would have had more of an impact if he had set himself and the Koran of fire. Plus his art would have been worth millions.
reaganaut on July 27, 2007 at 8:21 PM
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
madne0 on July 27, 2007 at 8:24 PM
There’s goes his invite to the next ANSWER rally!
Jim-Rose on July 27, 2007 at 8:32 PM
When we graduated from college, our entire Latin Honors class had a party, we each brought our Latin text book and threw the sumbitch in a bonfire…conjugate this.
Quarite Auctoritatem!
Alden Pyle on July 27, 2007 at 8:41 PM
Sorry, didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to use that word.
Dork B. on July 27, 2007 at 8:56 PM
Can’t we just all get along?
TheSitRep on July 27, 2007 at 9:05 PM
Well, he exercised his first ammendment rights. I expect him to use his second ammendment rights next. Or rather, his bodyguards will. Lefties consider guns icky (but not…nevermind), and think you and I shouldn’t have them (might deny a mugger or rapist his right to express his culture), but never hesitate to have better men protect them, hypocrisy be damned.
ticticboom on July 27, 2007 at 9:07 PM
Merrill is a weird little creature.
PBoilermaker on July 27, 2007 at 9:10 PM
I wonder if Rosie is going to condemn him for offending her friend Ahmadenijad (after all terrorists are people too).
I say it’s about time the gay community take up this fight. I’m wondering where the feminists are too. The straight white Christian males that they rail against as hateful bigots have been fighting this fight for their freedom. It’s about dang time is all I got to say. This is more their fight than mine.
For me, I just have to pay taxes under Sharia (sort of like government under Democrats anyway). For them they die.
I do wish he would have at least video taped it and put it on YouTube. THAT would have been art.
ThackerAgency on July 27, 2007 at 9:20 PM
Homosexuals Vs Islam:
Popcorn is popping, plenty of beer on ice.
Hening on July 27, 2007 at 9:26 PM
let the riots begin pass the popcorn please.
Mojack420 on July 27, 2007 at 9:35 PM
I guess Merril is just looking for a fatwa. Perhaps he is envious of Sallman Rushdie?
I wonder which McDonalds the religion of piece will burn over this? Will Newsweek talk it up?
William Teach on July 27, 2007 at 9:37 PM
Gee, I just deleted a Koran off my computer for free….
Little Boomer on July 27, 2007 at 9:45 PM
The Koran is not art. It’s pornography – a senseless waste of ink and paper.
RedWinged Blackbird on July 27, 2007 at 9:50 PM
i’m against burning one that old just for the historical value
damn that was an expensive and valuable schpiel. Bet he gets labeled a racist by the same athiest/liberal schmucks he loves
Defector01 on July 27, 2007 at 9:59 PM
If the muslims don’t ‘disptach’ Merrill for jeering Islam, then the Kos crowd most certainly will.
Teddy on July 27, 2007 at 10:03 PM
$60k for a Koran. Dude! You should’a sold the thing and burned one from the hand me down store. $60,000 will buy you a lot of security. You’ll need it for the Muslim murderers that will come after you as representatives of the religion of peace.
Mojave Mark on July 27, 2007 at 10:04 PM
I know that this is “art” and all … (gag) … but did the poor little rich kid purchase the appropriate carbon offsets before he set out on his masterpiece?
And, if he were a real artist, he would have known that his “work of art” (excuse my abuse of English) would have had a much greater impact if he had flushed it down the toilet, instead.
progressoverpeace on July 27, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Evangeline married a mental and psychological midget.
Mental midgets, in fact, are indignant.
He could have auctioned off the valuable and rare book and donated the proceeds to a favored cause, say the study of atheism or MENSA.
This shows how much 60k means to this millionnaire, and how heartless he is by not helping others in need, for whom this w/b much money. Narcissist he is too. All for his own vainglorious ignomy.
Funny that he married an Evangeline. Funny that he married at all.
Entelechy on July 27, 2007 at 10:27 PM
Heh.
Yeah, what the hell was he thinking, sell the expensive one and torch a big bonfire of cheapos. I really don’t care if he torches a Koran. People dessecrate Bibles all the time, its disrespectful, but I’d rather he had the right to do it than not to have that right.
Bad Candy on July 27, 2007 at 10:28 PM
he burned a koran… there’s a problem?
sMack on July 27, 2007 at 10:28 PM
He coulda bought a bunch of cheapos and still made a huge profit.
Bad Candy on July 27, 2007 at 10:29 PM
Burning is so uncreative.
Why not cut out each page and make 60,000 origami Theo Van Goghs?
Sending one to every imam on Earth.
The “artiste” has more bucks than brains.
profitsbeard on July 27, 2007 at 10:40 PM
Just note which book he defaced in public, and which one he did in private. Like one of the comments said above – that shows he knows where the real threat comes from.
nailinmyeye on July 27, 2007 at 11:29 PM
Looks like he has a death wish.
canopfor on July 27, 2007 at 11:30 PM
I’ll bet he didn’t burn it.
doufree on July 28, 2007 at 12:28 AM
He’s got balls. He may have a gay hippocampus, or hypothalamus, or whatever, but his balls are intact. Still, he burned the Q’ur”an’? Given his anger at executions of homosexuals, a more fitting protest might have been to ship it to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with its pages stuck together, with a DVD of the desecratory circle jerk.
If I remember, Dungeon Master’s Guide 18, Section 2257, says gay desecration of a rare ‘Q’ura’n requires level-18+ porn stars. And I think proof has to be kept on file. To be sure, though, you’d better ask Ace.
Kralizec on July 28, 2007 at 12:50 AM
so it was a gay rights activist artist… I wonder if he plans on planting a tree or buying carbon credits to offset his emmisions?
CaptainObvious on July 28, 2007 at 12:52 AM
Anyone taking any bets on what his next Artistic Masterpiece will be. My money is on an imitation of Theo.
Helloyawl on July 28, 2007 at 12:55 AM
Bet the value of his art skyrockets after the Muslims kill him.
Buzzy on July 28, 2007 at 1:30 AM
I’d suggest the gay community rethink this one! Islam still does that “homo stoning” thing in Iran and other places and I don’t think they want to start something with these guys. As for the fire…seems like a waste of a good match…
sabbott on July 28, 2007 at 4:09 AM
From what I’ve heard about the Pshtuns over in Afghanistan, if they really killed all the homosexuals there…. there would be no one left.
Texas Nick 77 on July 28, 2007 at 8:05 AM
Oops. Pashtuns. Need a new keyboard. This one can’t speel…
Texas Nick 77 on July 28, 2007 at 8:06 AM
What a yutz.
I can guarantee Mr. Yutz will not be targeted for death by rabid presbyterians.
locomotivebreath1901 on July 28, 2007 at 9:15 AM
He does know that his life will be in constant danger from this day forward, right?
Dark-Star on July 28, 2007 at 10:25 AM
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