Ahlul Bayt News Agency ; Professed atheist and Brisbane-based lawyer, Alex Stewart, posted the video on YouTube which showed him tearing pages from both books and using the paper to roll what looks to be marijuana cigarettes.
After smoking pages from both books, he gives marks out of 10 to them -- rating the Bible as a better burner than the Quran.
He also uses obscenity to express his contempt for the books.
Leaders from Muslim and Christian communities say the act, hot in the heels of another Quran burning controversy in the United Sates, is inflammatory and unacceptable.
Lawyers are taught the role of law, and role of law is to actually minimize conflict and violation, so for a lawyer to do so is profoundly disturbing.
“It makes it even more of a serious offense to other people, knowing that a person who has intellect is committing these atrocities. These are religious books that are deeply holy to a large population of Australian society," Nazeem Hussain, director of the Islamic Council of Victoria said.
Stewart is now on an indefinite leave from his job at the Queensland University of Technology while his employers are investigating the incident.
Costello said Stewart's reckless disregard for religious sanctities should be met with stern punishment.
“For a lawyer to do this, I think his own legal profession should be on the line. His own disbarment from practicing law should be questioned because it is profoundly shocking and deeply morally wrong.”
Earlier on Monday, Stewart wrote on Brisbane Atheists website, a group he helps organize, that he expected to be sacked.
"I'm screwed. I think I will lose my job over this. Damn it," he wrote.
As the debate rages on, Costella says even in a free society lines should be drawn.
“When you trespass into sacred zone of people's faith that they respect, freedom of religion, freedom of expression needs to respect the deepest beliefs. This is a flagrant abuse of those deepest beliefs,” he added.
The burning of the holy books incident in Queensland has outraged a community in a brazen act of provocation.
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After smoking pages from both books, he gives marks out of 10 to them -- rating the Bible as a better burner than the Quran.
He also uses obscenity to express his contempt for the books.
Leaders from Muslim and Christian communities say the act, hot in the heels of another Quran burning controversy in the United Sates, is inflammatory and unacceptable.
Lawyers are taught the role of law, and role of law is to actually minimize conflict and violation, so for a lawyer to do so is profoundly disturbing.
“It makes it even more of a serious offense to other people, knowing that a person who has intellect is committing these atrocities. These are religious books that are deeply holy to a large population of Australian society," Nazeem Hussain, director of the Islamic Council of Victoria said.
Stewart is now on an indefinite leave from his job at the Queensland University of Technology while his employers are investigating the incident.
Costello said Stewart's reckless disregard for religious sanctities should be met with stern punishment.
“For a lawyer to do this, I think his own legal profession should be on the line. His own disbarment from practicing law should be questioned because it is profoundly shocking and deeply morally wrong.”
Earlier on Monday, Stewart wrote on Brisbane Atheists website, a group he helps organize, that he expected to be sacked.
"I'm screwed. I think I will lose my job over this. Damn it," he wrote.
As the debate rages on, Costella says even in a free society lines should be drawn.
“When you trespass into sacred zone of people's faith that they respect, freedom of religion, freedom of expression needs to respect the deepest beliefs. This is a flagrant abuse of those deepest beliefs,” he added.
The burning of the holy books incident in Queensland has outraged a community in a brazen act of provocation.
End item/ 159