Artist Burns Rare Koran in Protest of Muslim Homophobia
Charles Merrill Burns Gift of the Late King Jordan
Recently, the artist Charles Merrill burned an expensive Koran to make a statement against Muslim views against homosexual behavior. He burned an expensive copy of the Koran that had been bequeathed to him by his late wife, Evangeline Johnson Merrill, who received it from the late King of Jordan in 1950s. The tome had a value of approximately $60,000.
Koran Burning Follows Bible Editing
The Koran burning comes after his recent decision to edit the Christian bible with black marker and scissors. Merrill's purpose in the defacing of the books is to "eliminate homophobic hate" in th Abrahamic Holy Books. Merrill described the ancient books of the Bible and the Koran as "terrorist manuals." Merrill considers these Abrahamic books that consider homosexuality not a normative state of human affairs to be hateful. He believes the Koran and the Bible encourage terrorism. He links terrorism with hate crimes against gays saying that "airplanes are flow into buildings because of words, and hate crimes against gays." Merrill hoped that his defacement of the sacred documents of the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity and Islam would call attention to homophobia across the world. Merrill is a self described atheist.
Koran Acquired from Late Wife of Gay Artist
The Koran burned was valued at $60,000. Merrill acquired the volume from his late wife Evangeline Johnson Merrill. Johsnson was the daughter of the man who founded Johnson and Johnson of q-tip fame. She received the volume as a gift back in the 1950s. As an international socialite, she traveled the globe during the 1950s. She also served as a representative of the United Nations during the decade of the 1950s. During a trip to Jordan, the now deceased King gave her the old rare manuscript of the Koran. Merrill who nows describes himself as gay burned the volume his deceased wife had acquired in her international
travels.
Background of Artist Merrill
Charles Merrill, the man who burned the Koran and defaced the Bible, considers himself an atheist. Like his wife, he has prominent society relatives. His cousin was the co-founder of Merrill Lynch. Lynch is a well-known artist. His current exhibition at the Broadway Gallery in NYC is an exploration of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) activism and of the spirituality of native cultures through the medium of paint. One feature of his current work is an obsession with pink triangles. His recent exhibitors describe him as an inconclast and that his recent defacement of sacred Abrahamic scriptures is a reflection of his noted altruism. Merrill considers his recent painting to be part of a move in his work towards Cubism. For Merrill, the defacement of the Koran is considered performance art.
Source:
Gay Artist Burns Rare $60,000 Koran (http://media.prnewswire.com/en/jsp/latest.jsp?beat=BEAT_GOVERNMENT&view=BROWSE&resourceid=3522712)
Charles Merrill (http://www.merrillcharles.com/)
Published by Ana Martinez
Whether skimming biographies of famous women or old government reports, I love learning about strange and exciting topics. I also enjoy traveling. View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentI wish he had BALLS.BIG CLANKING BALLS!but all he gets is 15 minutes of fame.He will go hide behind someones skirt now.
Burn more holy books
In better. sh*t on them
Hurray for blasphemy
This guy is expressing what we're all thinking. I hope this inspires more people to burn the Qur'an.
Hitler justified his actions against the jews by claiming the Bible gave him the right to destroy them. The KKK use the bible to justify their terrorism against the blacks and jews. The jews use the torah and the bible to justify the day to day death and destruction of the palestinian people, who are both christian and muslim.
Anyone can use any text and manipulate it suit their needs and actions. True Christianity, Judaism and Islam is peace loving. Do not judge an entire people because of the actions of the few.
So instead of reaching out and being the better man, this guy just incites more violence? God what an idiot.
The thing clearly has historical value. While we may disagree with many of history's darkest days, scientists and historians still learn and study from them. Imagine if a Pope completely destroyed the Colliseum because many Christians were killed there. Imagine if we burned and destroyed treasures and artifacts from Xerxes, just because he fought against the Greeks, the foundation of Western Civilization?
We like to call ourselves open-minded and free of ignorance and hatred, and yet we see what this man did, and we look at the comments at the bottom of this page, and it makes you wonder.
Oh, and am I the only one who finds it ironic that the gay guy got this copy of the Quran to protest, from his ex-wife?
The Quran was a historical item.If it offended him,all he had to do was give it to someone who would have treasured it.In my opinion his act is selfish and
an act which disgusts me.You know,out of sight out of
mind as they say.
It's very sad how many Americans,Christians hate Muslims.and sterotype them,tell lies about them and
continue to feed themselves with hate.
What he did was idiotic and destructive.
"He believes the Koran and the Bible encourage terrorism."
I do not see any Christian terrorism today?
If some nut case in a rare case kills a Gay person they are charged with a hate crime and most Christians believe what Jesus believed, hate the sin not the sinner. Jesus said "let he who is without sin, cast the first stone".
Christians are civilized and mostly secular. I can't say the same for the followers of Islam.
How about a poem?
Flee Sodom's Gate
Perversions abounded the streets were not safe. God determined that Sodom would soon meet her fate.
Abraham pleaded with God," if ten righteous be found"," will you deliver the city and not bring it down?
"Yes", the Lord said;" if ten righteous be found", I'll hold back my wrath and not bring it down.
God searched the whole city and there were not ten, their lusts burned within them, men loving men.
In this city of plenty there was just one man, who was holy and righteous, and loved God's commands.
The Lord sent two angels to Sodom's gate, to greet the man Lot, whose heart did break
The angels told Lot, "Get your family and flee", if you don't heed our voice, then destruction you'll see.
Lot went to his family, his sons in law mocked; they wouldn't leave Sodom, nor give it a thought.
So on the next morning the angels did say, "Lot take your two daughters, your wife, and flee from this place".
You're leaving this ci
me too. damn terrorist manual.
Anyone who wants to burn the hateful and violent koran is okay by me.