Bible and Koran smoking lawyer on leave

A Queensland university lawyer who videoed himself apparently smoking joints made
with pages of the Bible and the Koran, has gone on leave.
Alex Stewart, a research lawyer with Queensland University of Technology (QUT), met
with management on Monday after his YouTube video made national headlines.
In the clip, entitled Bible or Koran - which burns best?, the professed atheist says
burning religious books is no big deal and people need to get over it.
QUT vice-chancellor Peter Coaldrake says the university does not support the
destruction of religious books.
"The university is obviously extremely, extremely unhappy and disappointed that this
sort of incident should occur," Professor Coaldrake told reporters in Sydney on
Monday.
"It may have occurred in the individual's private time or on a weekend - it doesn't
matter.
"There is always, in the community, collateral damage to these sorts of things."
Prof Coaldrake said Mr Stewart met university management on Monday and had since
decided to go on leave for an unspecified period.
Mr Stewart had not been sacked, Prof Coaldrake said after his Sydney news
conference, but the university would review the matter in accordance with its code
of conduct.
Earlier, Mr Stewart, an assistant organiser with a group called Brisbane Atheists,
said in a message on the group's website that he expected to be sacked.
"I'm screwed. I think I will lose my job over this. Damn it," he wrote.
The president of the Islamic Association of Australia said Mr Stewart's motives were
deeply hurtful to Muslims but his future was for the university to decide.
"We condemn it and our feelings have been hurt by this man," Sheik Muhammad Wahid
told AAP.
"There is no need for this kind of thing, just to create disunity and disharmony
among people living in Australia."
He urged Muslims to turn the other cheek.
"I urge my fellow Muslims to abide by the laws of this country and not take any
action which breaks the law," he said.
"These types of actions should be condemned by the wider community. He must be asked
what was his agenda, what was his purpose? Maybe he was not of sound mind at the
time."
A spokesman for the Catholic Church, Adrian Farrelly, described the stunt as foolish
and imprudent.
"He can say: `Yes I'm in a country where I can do what I like' but the reality is
you've got consequences," he told ABC radio.
"He has thought through the possible fallout of what he's done."
Queensland police said they were not investigating the matter.
In the video clip, Mr Stewart - who does not identify himself as a QUT staffer -
says the Bible and the Koran are "just books".
He refers to the furore sparked in the United States by a pastor who controversially
had threatened to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the September 11
terrorist attacks on America.
"With respect to books like the Bible and the Koran, whatever, just get over it," he
says.
"That said, I don't think it's completely appropriate unless it's done for a good
purpose, which I've done today."
He gave the Bible a seven out of 10 for its burning qualities, and said it was
better than the Koran which left him feeling sick.
As he smokes part of a page from the Koran, he ponders: "I wonder what Mohammed
would have thought about this. Is this profanity, is it blasphemy? Does it really
matter?"
Mr Stewart has told The Courier-Mail the video was a joke and he does not do drugs.
The green substance featured in the video was actually grass clippings, he said.
He defended the stunt, saying basic freedoms, such as freedom of speech, should not
be threatened simply because someone might be offended.



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