Rushdie: "The pope gets ridiculed every day, but you don't see Catholics organizing terrorist attacks around the world"

Salman Rushdie usually demonstrates that he doesn't really have any clue about why he is under an ongoing death fatwa, but in this he is spot-on. "Islam: I don't like the word Islamophobia, Rushdie," from ANSAmed, October 2 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - BERLIN - Freedom of expression is a fundamental value, and in no way comparable to physical violence against others, British-Indian author Salman Rushdie said at his latest book launch on Tuesday. Titled Joseph Anton, it's a memoir of the nine years he spent in hiding after Iran's spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a death warrant against him in 1989, accusing Rushdie of blasphemy in his novel The Satanic Verses.

''The pope gets ridiculed every day, but you don't see Catholics organizing terrorist attacks around the world,'' the atheist author said. ''I don't like the word Islamophobia. We must distinguish between attacking ideas and attacking people.

The response to words must always be more words. People are using offense as an excuse for revenge. But there is no intrinsic right to not be offended, it's absurd.'' The title of his new book, a composite of the names of his two favorite authors, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov, is the pseudonym he chose when he went into hiding, Rushdie explained.

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The response to words must always be more words.

But that's a Western idea. It certainly wasn't Muhammad's who killed and had assassinated his critics. And he's the perfect example for Muslims according to their absurd Koran- which is why all Muslims are potentially dangerous, physically dangerous.
Islam makes one insane.

radical islamists do not have a concept of dialogue. to them a conversation is ak 47 and suicide bombings.
M

I don't quite understand Robert's comment. The Satanic Verses shows that Rushdie understands very well the sanctified historic roots of Muslim intolerance for criticism or satire of Islam or Muhammad.

Not that Rushdie is perfect. I thought he should have had the decency to thank the Thatcher government for the protection it provided to him, after he had portrayed Thatcher as a sort of Lovecraftian horror in the book which occasioned that protection. I'll be interested to see whether he expresses any such gratitude in his memoir.

Well, besides all this it isn't really easy to ridicule the pope. Maybe there are two exceptions: you can call him the "German shepard". Okay, maybe, but that's also a very catholic type of humor. You can say that's he's not very good-looking, he's not a movie star, but who cares if one agrees that content is more important than appearance?

No, in fact he's the only church leader to emphasize the importance of the (human) concept of freedom see e.a. his second encyclical "Spe Salvi" ( http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi_en.html ), and that's something he must be praised for. As far as I know it he's the only religious (high ranked) person to do so.

It's because Catholics aren't adults suffering from terminal childishness while Muslim adults are.

thank thacher for protecting him? are you kidding? he a british citizen and he has every right to be protected by his government. that why he pays taxes, obama does not call me to thank me for his protection which is provided by my federal tax $$$$$
M

"The pope gets ridiculed every day, but you don't see Catholics organizing terrorist attacks around the world"

Yeh but Islam is a Religion fo Peace. That is why they get upset when there is any mockery of their cult. LOGICAL RIGHT?

Of all the major world religions/belief system, only Islam defies reason and disregard the sanctity of life.

It should be aligned with the pagan religions that practice human sacrifice.

Just look at their punishment: beheading, mutilation, etc... VERY PAGAN.

Islam is a pagan belief pretending to be Abrahamic by stealing and perverting the Hebrew and Christian books

''I don't like the word Islamophobia. We must distinguish between attacking ideas and attacking people.

They don't want to separate the two.

Traditionally Islam has thrown away - discarded - and now jail - those who turn away from their Islamic belief.

[Really get this meaning - a whole human being - a life is wasted - because they chose not to believe in Islam anymore.]

So there is not like there is room for debate - criticism and query which form a natural part of debate - would be taken as insulting and blasphemous - and as we are constantly reminded - leads to one being beheaded. [Saudi.A they still do.]

Attacking Islamic ideas meant certain death.

That is why to Muslims it is unthinkable - because that could get you killed!

The Muslim is therefore a traumatized person.

::

In the west - not distinguishing between Islam and the Muslim - serves the purpose [or becomes the reason for] - overturning rights based laws - and substituting them with theocratic Islamic laws.

When some of the most repressive nations on earth - or those which have some difficulty with the idea of respecting their citizen's rights - raise the issue of Islamophobia - and tie this to criticism of constitutional protection of freedom of speech or expression - then you can understand more clearly how the anti-racism-Islamophobia campaigns can be used.

These guys have one thing in mind - that is to make Islam and the Koran the highest authority in the land - and everything else is a game.

A phobia is an irrational fear of something harmless. Rushdie should play up the stupidity of this term more often, as he's practically the poster-boy for a very rational fear of Islam.

Salman Rushdie afraid of carrots? He's a Carrotphobe.
Salman Rushdie afraid of Islam because of death fatwas? NOT an Islamophobe.

Fear of Islam (the ideology) is very rational. Howeverm the Gulf Arab's fear of the Bible (a freaking book, period. Afraid of pieces of papers?) is irrational. Hence, Gulf Arabs are bible-phobes.

Miriam, the Thatcher government gave Rushdie a great deal more than routine protection.

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