Personal Lives

Australian Lawyer One Ups Koran-Threatening Florida Preacher

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An Australian lawyer went several steps further than Florida preacher Terry Jones when he smoked the Bible and the Koran in a video he posted to YouTube this weekend.

Brisbane-based lawyer Alex Stewart tore pages from the Koran and the Bible, put something in them resembling marijuana, rolled them up and smoked them, according to the Courier-Mail. The video has since been removed. Stewart later said he put grass clippings rather than pot in the pages.

Stewart, an atheist, says on the video that people should just “get over” the burning of books like the Bible and the Koran. “It’s just a f—ing book,” he says. “Who cares? It’s your beliefs that matter. Quite frankly, if you are going to get upset about a book, you’re taking life way too seriously.”

Stewart had worked for the Queensland University of Technology, but he took an indefinite leave after controversy erupted over the video, the Telegraph reported. He posted an Internet message saying he believes he is going to be fired.

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