Texas Town: Insensitivity Evil, Stealing Heroic
A shirtless skateboarder has become an Internet sensation after he foiled an attempted Quran burning by a radical evangelist in Texas on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Amarillo Globe-News reports that skateboard-toting Jacob Isom, 23, grabbed the Muslim holy book from David Grisham -- head of the Christian activist group Repent Amarillo -- on Saturday as the evangelist argued with a group of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists who were protesting the planned torching.
"I snuck up behind him and took his Quran," Isom told KFDA-TV. "He said something about burning the Quran. I said, 'Dude, you have no Quran,' and ran off." That video went viral and, T-shirts, badges and baseball caps boasting a book-wielding skateboarder were soon on sale across the Internet. And the Facebook page of "Amarillo Citizens Against Repent Amarillo" had by this morning clocked up more than 3,400 fans, up from 35 on Friday.
Isom -- part of a 200-strong group of protesters, mostly recruited by a local Unitarian Universalist congregation -- described himself to the Globe-News as an "atheist concerned with religious liberty."
"I believe in freedom for everyone and not to mess with everybody's beliefs," he told the paper. "I don't believe in the Quran. I believe you shouldn't burn it in front of people that do."
After snatching the kerosene-covered book from Grisham, Isom handed it to Dennis Cobbins, an imam at the Islamic Center of Amarillo. Cobbins says he was overwhelmed by the support he'd received from the community. "The city we live in has zero tolerance for bigotry," he told the paper.
Grisham -- known locally for extremist acts, such as demanding his supporters boycott Houston because of its "social ills" -- left the park peacefully, to cheers from demonstrators waving crosses and "Love Thy Neighbor" banners. However, speaking to the Globe-News, he declared it ironic that Isom was praised for his actions -- which he calls "theft" -- while he was denied his right to free speech.
He says he bears no hard feelings toward the skateboarder, though, and doesn't plan to press charges.
Isom, meanwhile, plans to cash in on his new-found fame by auctioning off the skateboard he had with him at the weekend. "Maybe [I'll] get a new skateboard and something to go with it," he told the Globe-News. See Chick's THE TRIAL.
The Amarillo Globe-News reports that skateboard-toting Jacob Isom, 23, grabbed the Muslim holy book from David Grisham -- head of the Christian activist group Repent Amarillo -- on Saturday as the evangelist argued with a group of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and atheists who were protesting the planned torching.
"I snuck up behind him and took his Quran," Isom told KFDA-TV. "He said something about burning the Quran. I said, 'Dude, you have no Quran,' and ran off." That video went viral and, T-shirts, badges and baseball caps boasting a book-wielding skateboarder were soon on sale across the Internet. And the Facebook page of "Amarillo Citizens Against Repent Amarillo" had by this morning clocked up more than 3,400 fans, up from 35 on Friday.
Isom -- part of a 200-strong group of protesters, mostly recruited by a local Unitarian Universalist congregation -- described himself to the Globe-News as an "atheist concerned with religious liberty."
"I believe in freedom for everyone and not to mess with everybody's beliefs," he told the paper. "I don't believe in the Quran. I believe you shouldn't burn it in front of people that do."
After snatching the kerosene-covered book from Grisham, Isom handed it to Dennis Cobbins, an imam at the Islamic Center of Amarillo. Cobbins says he was overwhelmed by the support he'd received from the community. "The city we live in has zero tolerance for bigotry," he told the paper.
Grisham -- known locally for extremist acts, such as demanding his supporters boycott Houston because of its "social ills" -- left the park peacefully, to cheers from demonstrators waving crosses and "Love Thy Neighbor" banners. However, speaking to the Globe-News, he declared it ironic that Isom was praised for his actions -- which he calls "theft" -- while he was denied his right to free speech.
He says he bears no hard feelings toward the skateboarder, though, and doesn't plan to press charges.
Isom, meanwhile, plans to cash in on his new-found fame by auctioning off the skateboard he had with him at the weekend. "Maybe [I'll] get a new skateboard and something to go with it," he told the Globe-News. See Chick's THE TRIAL.
posted by chickcomics | 12:40 PM
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