The Bible Burned, Urinated On By Prescott Man

The Bible has long been a source of inspiration for Christians, and is looked at as one of literary value by scholars and English teachers across the continent.

However, for one Prescott, Arizona, man, it is meant for insults and degradation.

Eric Minerault, a 22-year-old man calling himself “Dark Lord,” was arrested after Prescott Police were called out to the Gospel Rescue Mission after a disturbance call was made claiming there was a man burning something on the front steps of the church.

When authorities arrived, they discovered Minerault burning and urinating on the Bible. When questioned about his intentions, he said he was “cursing the Christians” and that’s when he identified himself by “Dark Lord.”

Minerault was booked into the Yavapai County Detention Center on a Class 1 misdemeanor, AZ Central reported.

In a previous report from The Inquisitr, our own Samantha Kilgore pointed out that the arrest of Minerault raises questions regarding his right to freedom of speech.

Dan Pochoda, who is the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, writes Kilgore, “has already spoken up, saying that Minerault’s arrest and detention do, in fact, raise questions as to whether or not Minerault’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights were violated. But even Pochoda admitted that courts have upheld laws that bar certain symbols, such as crosses, from being burned.”

Arizona criminal law seems pretty clear on this point, stating, “It is unlawful for a person to burn or cause to be burned any symbol not addressed by section 13-1707 on the property of another person without that person’s permission or on a highway or any other public place with the intent to intimidate any person or group of persons. The intent to intimidate may not be inferred solely from the act of burning the symbol, but shall be proven by independent evidence.”

Even though Minerault’s place in the grand scheme of things is insignificant, his decision to target The Bible, a document of so much value to so many people, has touched off a lively debate across the Internet.

At RawStory, commenters are having a field day with one stating, “Someone had to. It’s not going to urinate on itself.”

As counterpoint, a more rational man identified as “Windweaver” had this to say: “I have the same attitude about it that I had about the dirtball minister that burned the Koran. It’s a cowardly thing to desecrate the symbol of somebody else’s religion. And nobody but an a**hole would do it.”

What do you think, readers? Should The Bible and other time-honored religious symbols have “legal protection” against this type of treatment?