Koran Shredding to Be Held in Boca Raton

By Kyle Munzenrieder Fri., May 20 2011 at 8:58 AM

Categories: WTF Florida

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Mark Rowley wants to shred the Koran.

We're not sure what the Koran ever did to Florida, but residents of our state seem to have a habit of wanting to burn it. Hot on the heels of Rev. Terry Jones' burning of the Muslim holy book in his tiny Gainesville church, Boca Raton resident Mark Rowley sought to burn the book in a public park. He couldn't get the correct permits though and now plans to shred the book.

According to The Sun-Sentinel, Rowley has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has been forced into hospitalization before. In 2006, he was also convicted of spray painting "666" on a mosque, three churches, and a synagogue.

Though, he wanted his Koran burning to be held legally, so he sought permits for the planned burning in Boca's Sanborn Park. The request was denied, even though Rowley promised to burn the book in some sort of device to control the flame.

Now he's applied for new permits to shred the book in the park.

Rowley claims he's a women's rights advocate who says the Koran is evil because it advocates rape.

"My idea is to blow all the wind out of the sails of the terrorists by having this come out in the public eye," Rowley told the paper. "I completely disagree that any book that advocates rape is a holy text."

A spokesman from the Council on American Islamic Relations disagrees.

"In Islam, you're taught to treat women with respect," says Nezar Hamze. "Men are the head of household, but women are not second-class citizens."

For what it's worth, the Bible also has a really complicated take on rape as well.

Rowley's permit to shred the book on Memorial Day is currently under review.

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