Two Months Later And Sin Quirin Is Still In Ministry
Silence Built His Hotrod.
On January 17th, 2020, Maggie Serota wrote an incredibly in-depth and incredibly damning story about current Ministry guitarist Sinhue “Sin” Quirin. The article lays out how Quirin, since his tenure in Society 1 to his present tenure in Ministry, has been preying upon, grooming, and engaging in sexual relationships with two underage women. The article is very much worth your time as Serota does a great job of laying out Quirin’s alleged crimes through interviews of the victims, extensive background information, and quotes from former band members. The story was picked up by major music websites such as Pitchfork and NME. Two months have gone by since the article was published and what has happened? Unfortunately, nothing.
You would think a story like this would call for an immediate dismissal from a band, especially one as big and influential as Ministry. You would be wrong. You would think common sense and logic would seem to dictate that a band set to go out on a large-scale tour would want to separate themselves from such a heinous story. Again, you would be wrong. As of this writing, Sin Quirin is still listed as the guitarist for Ministry on the band’s Facebook page.
Speaking of websites, Quirin’s blog is now private. Official Facebook page? Gone. Ditto Instagram. Even his Soundcloud is nowhere to be found. Ministry’s Twitter page was also locked following the release of the story. Only recently was it made public again. Don’t worry, though. There’s still a video on Youtube of Quirin eating some nachos.
Silence, it seems, is the band’s preferred form of dealing with this situation. A blanket denial from the band’s attorney as well as a statement saying Ministry frontman Al Jourgenson “is unaware of any potential nefarious activity by any member of Ministry during their respective tenure(s) with the band including but not limited to Mr. Sin Quirin,” is all we have from the band. I’m going to guess Jourgenson probably knows by now, but alas, no further comment.
I can understand not wanting to say anything for legal purposes, but why keep him on and risk further damage? Are you telling me there’s no one who can’t play guitar like Quirin? You can’t just scoop up any dreadlocked weirdo at a local goth night and strap a guitar to their chest? I had little interest of seeing Ministry live before the story. Now, I’ll actively avoid seeing them on any bill. It’s a black cloud over the entire band and all of their side projects, a permanent and glaring stain.
It seems the strategy for Ministry, Quirin, and the rest is to say nothing and hope it blows over. Sadly, it’s a working strategy. The longer a story moves away from its inflection point, the less potent it becomes. Combine that with the current pandemic and this story will be nothing more than an “oh, yeah” memory by the time Ministry hits the road this summer. Consider it the Gary Condit-Chandra Levy story in a post-9/11 world.
Ministry, along with KMFDM, Schecter Guitars, Ministry’s label Nuclear Blast, the venues hosting their upcoming tour, and the majority of their fans all seem to be standing by Quirin. The show must go on and apparently it must go on with him. If he does this to another child, will they remain silent again? I fear I already know the answer.
