Robert Spencer: Ray Bradbury Dead, Censorship On the Rise

Over at Atlas Shrugs I discuss the rising tide of censorship regarding the truth about Islam and jihad in light of the death of Ray Bradbury:

The man who wrote the novel about censorship, Fahrenheit 451, died last week at age 91.
Nowadays the really dangerous book-burners are not those who torch an occasional copy of the Qur’an, a futile symbolic act against an oppressive ideology that is everywhere advancing today. No, the censors of note today are the Leftists and Islamic supremacists who want to shut down any truthful speech about how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and the oppression of non-Muslims and women.

Not only is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) working to compel Western governments to criminalize criticism of Islam (under the guise of “defamation of religion,” but those who would judge what constitutes that are on record as considering anti-terror analysis that examines the Islamic motives and goals of the jihadis to be such defamation), but also Leftists and Islamic supremacists in the West today are doing everything they can to demonize and silence those who tell the truth about the jihad and Islamic supremacism. A case in point is Reza Aslan’s gunsel Nathan Lean, a creepy thug who has threatened me also; he is not in the least an original thinker, any more than Aslan himself is, but he is indicative of the Left’s totalitarian, anti-free speech mindset:

By this Lean means freedom fighters, whom he wants people to think are telling the truth about Islam and jihad for money and/or fame (not for veiled death threats from brownshirts like him, although they come in more frequently than do either money or fame). “Silenced.” How? By the state? With rubber truncheons? Re-education camps? Firing squad?...

There is more.

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11 Comments

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duh_swami | June 12, 2012 7:55 AM | Reply

Characters like lean and a few others, need to be taken out behind the backstop where there are attitude adjustments applied on a more or less continuous basis...I had to under go an attitude adjustment behind the backstop once...and only once...Since then, I have personally taken many wayward boys like Lean behind the backstop, and given them my famous lecture on what it takes to be a man...They almost always cry and thank me profusely for setting them on the right path...It's cheap advice, but it always works...I have given cheap advice to thousands...I should get some kind of award...

John C. Barile | June 12, 2012 9:00 AM | Reply

Gee, I opt for the ReEucationAndCorrectT camps, myself--such a mind-blowing experience! You never met so many like-minded people! I love Big Brother.

John C. Barile replied to comment from John C. Barile | June 12, 2012 9:06 AM | Reply

And be sure to tell my handlers and mentors that Lackluster Nebbish squeal--er, uh--sent you.

John C. Barile replied to comment from John C. Barile | June 12, 2012 9:09 AM | Reply

. . Thinking camps, that is.

Val | June 12, 2012 9:41 AM | Reply

Lean is a creepy little two bit thug. His day will come.

Smredneck5 | June 12, 2012 10:47 AM | Reply

Lean needs to be put away for a long time. Veiled threats should not be tolerated, especially on an open forum like Twitter. Child abuse, bullying etc. isn't tolerated but threats are?

miriam rove | June 12, 2012 10:52 AM | Reply

Hi Robert! you said that you sent his threats the FBI. did anything come out of it?
M

wildjew | June 12, 2012 2:06 PM | Reply

R. Spencer wrote: "Oft-repeated were wholly false claims about her (Pam Geller's) positions and associations, with no regard whatsoever for truth or accuracy – and the gutless “conservative” media largely fell into line, hoping to avoid their own guilt-by-association taint...."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I am able to listen to a fair amount of talk radio during the day due to my work. Sean Hannity is no longer syndicated in our area. I think Hannity, to his credit, interviews Geller. I'm not sure if he interviews Spencer. Limbuagh never mentions the counter-jihad movement or the activists. I've never heard him mention Geller, Spencer, Nonie Darwish or anyone else in the movement except for his friend Andrew McCarthy, but not in the context of Islam. Limbaugh champions himself the man with the biggest go#ads in the room; in the conservative movement, bar none. I used to hear Spencer interviewed on the Michael Savage show. Don't know what happened there. Maybe the conservative media is waiting for another big attack before they take the threat really seriously?

darmanad | June 13, 2012 3:39 AM | Reply

I have great respect for RS's scholarship on all things Islam as well as his keen sense of humor and good nature which his writing style evidences. However, I believe he makes a serious mistake by conflating leftist with anyone who fails to condemn Islam. This piece demonstrates more of that self-defeating "bad liberal/left" versus "good conservative/right" obfuscation. The fight against the spread of Islamic ideology is not a left vs right issue.

Moreover,I would submit that the mainstream media is not as "pro-Islam" as RS contends. I believe that because of work like his, as well as the events themselves, MSM and western society in general are coming to appreciate the problems inherent to Islam and its devout practioners. Criticism of Islam may not yet have reached the point which would placate RS or JW readers, but I would encourage RS to steadfastly continue his valuable work without the persistent disparagement of "leftists." His work has yielded good results, but his acrimonioous disparagement of those who have yet to assimilate the truth about Islam is ill considered and self defeating. It's also fuzzy thinking.

Fuzzy, because it appears that the only criterion RS employs to distinguish between left and right is how one stands on the Islam issues (and by inference the Israel/mideast conflict). It is tautologic to define leftist as one who fails to condemn Islamic ideology and then complain that those damn leftists don't sufficiently condemn Islamic ideology. Additionally, by conflating leftist with not being sufficiently anti-Islamic RS becomes associated with ultra conservative know-nothings (like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck) and thereby alienates many mainstream people who would otherwise lend him a more attentive ear.
There is no need to condemn leftists especially when you don't define the term by other than reference to Islamic issues. GW Bush gave Islam a free pass. Was he a liberal or leftist? Geert Wilders has adopted a leftist position with respect to economic policy. Is he not anti-Islamic? How would you classify the repressive governments of the mideast monarchies and theocracies that constitute the OIC? Surely it would not be leftist. If anything, it would be rightwingish.

I am reminded of an extremely astute comment to Paul Berman's review of the book "Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes Are Choking Freedom Worldwide" by Paul Marshall and Nina Shea which appeared in the the March 14 issue of The New Republic on line at
http://www.tnr.com/article/books/magazine/101716/islam-blasphemy-freedom-speech?page=0,0

I confess that I don't read many books these www days and I may not get around to reading this one, but the review itself was incredibly informative. I urge JW readers to read it and share it with all their friends and address book entries. The comment on this review which struck me as astute is applicable to the subject at hand. It reads:
"The toughest thing in writing about radical Islam is to figure out a style of composition which allow readers, who don't want to acknowledge the gravity of the situation described here or are even hostile to being informed about it, to process the information given. Berman does a superb job here. He is a master writer who translates difficult information into a language that can be easily assimilated."

I believe RS would do well to reconsider his construction of an artificial right vs left dichotomy as it pertains to attitudes towards Islamic ideology. It will facilitate the assimilation of the information he seeks to share.

TL Winslow | June 13, 2012 10:10 AM | Reply

In retrospect, Fahrenheit 451 is funny, because its message that a;; books are worth preserving is way too naive and can't possibly apply to the horrendously evil Quran. Indeed, Islam has always had a horde of hafiz who commit it to memory just in case, while fellow Muslims are busy burning non-Muslim books. Bradbury was an Islam history ignoramus, probably focusing on Catholic persecution of scientists etc., and considering Islam kaput, which it seemed to be back in his day: at least there was no sci-fi market for messages beating that seemingly dead horse.

After 9/11 we found out that the horse was far from dead.

Master Islam's history online in your browser free and pass Bradbury up:

http://go.to/islamhistory

gravenimage replied to comment from TL Winslow | June 15, 2012 4:12 PM | Reply

TL Winslow wrote:

Bradbury was an Islam history ignoramus, probably focusing on Catholic persecution of scientists etc...
...................................

Actually, I believe his point of reference was more likely state burning of books and art in Nazi Germany.

Bradbury may not—as is true with all too many—have understood much about Islam per se, but he *did* know something about the nature of evil, and how it often reappears in forms just different enough from what people recognize that it often is able to make great inroads before enough good people wake up to its presence.

This, indeed, one of the major themes of his great parable "Something Wicked This Way Comes".

Seems pretty timely to me.

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FrontPageMag.com

Books by Robert Spencer

The Muslim Brotherhood in America, by Robert Spencer

Islamophobia: Thoughtcrime of the Totalitarian Future

Muslim Persecution of Christians, by Robert Spencer

The Ground Zero Mosque: Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks

“My comrade-in-arms, my pal, my buddy.”
— Oriana Fallaci

“Robert Spencer incarnates intellectual courage when, all over the world, governments, intellectuals, churches, universities and media crawl under a hegemonic Universal Caliphate’s New Order. His achievement in the battle for the survival of free speech and dignity of man will remain as a fundamental monument to the love of, and the self-sacrifice for, liberty.”
— Bat Ye’or

“Robert Spencer is indefatigable. He is keeping up the good fight long after many have already given up. I do not know what we would do without him. I appreciate all the intelligence and courage it takes to keep going despite the appeasement of the West.”
— Ibn Warraq

“America's most informed, fearless, and compelling voice on modern jihadism.”
— Andrew C. McCarthy, Senior Fellow at National Review Institute

“Robert Spencer is the leading voice of scholarship and reason in a world gone mad. If the West is to be saved, we will owe Robert Spencer an incalculable debt.”
— Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

"The consummate Islam critic and expert." — Bruce Bawer

“Over the years, we have become friends, and I have received his assistance on several pieces of legislation I proposed.”
— Former Congressman Tom Tancredo

“Few people are capable of applying scholarship, analytical reasoning, and objectivity to their topic -- while simultaneously being readable and witty -- as can Robert Spencer.”
— Raymond Ibrahim

“A national treasure...The acclaimed scholar of Islam.”
— Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy

“I am indeed honored to call him my friend.”
— Brad Thor, novelist

“A top American analyst of Islam....A serious scholar...I learn from him.”
— Daniel Pipes

“A brilliant scholar and writer.”
— Douglas Murray

"One of my best teachers."
— Ashraf Ramelah, Voice of the Copts

“Thank God there’s at least one man with balls left in the West.”
— Kathy Shaidle, Five Feet of Fury

“I read people like [Mark Steyn] and Bob Spencer and the rest of them, and I say, ‘Boortz, you’re pretending you’re an author. These people really are. They really write some entertaining, some standup stuff.’”
— Neal Boortz

“Robert Spencer is the Stephen King of Jihad.”
— Chris Gaubatz, Muslim Mafia

“Armed with facts and fearlessness, Spencer stands up for Western civilization.”
— Michelle Malkin

“Widely read in conservative foreign policy circles.”
— New York Times

“Widely read in many quarters in Washington.”
— Washington Post

“A canny operative who likely has the inside track on the State Department’s Middle East affairs desk should the tea party win the White House.”
— New York Magazine

“A hero of the American right.”
— Karen Armstrong

"The leading anti-Islamic intellectual in the United States....The go-to Islam expert for the right wing."
— Salon Magazine

“Robert Spencer is an Edward Said turned upside down.”
— Stephen Suleyman Schwartz

“One of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes.”
— Hamas-linked CAIR

"Geller and Spencer are probably the most important propagandizing Islamophobes in the world. These people's voices speak very loudly — not just here in the United States but overseas."
— Heidi Beirach, Southern Poverty Law Center

“Satanic ignoramus.”
— Khaleel Mohammed

“The Likud anti-Christ.”
— Dar al-Hayat newspaper (Saudi Arabia)

“Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant.”
— Al-Qaeda’s Adam Gadahn, “Azzam the American”