My latest in PJ Media:
You may have thought the public discourse couldn’t get any more absurd. Think again. Apparently oblivious to the titanic dimensions of the irony, the publisher Little, Brown just canceled a new book, Welcome to the Woke Trials: How #Identity Killed Progressive Politics by British journalist Julie Burchill because of an “Islamophobic” twitter exchange Burchill had with Muslim writer Ash Sarkar. So you see, it’s fine to stand up for freedom of speech, but some lines must not be crossed. And what was Burchill’s crime? Did she use racial slurs? Did she call for genocide or violence against innocent Muslims? No, apparently all she did was note the readily demonstrable fact that according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad married a child. But telling the truth is a dangerous enterprise these days.
According to The National, the Hachette group, which owns Little, Brown, announced that Burchill’s book “has been scrapped by her publisher for what it said were Islamophobic comments.”
The book, according to the report, “was promoted as a ‘characteristically irreverent and entertaining’ indictment of the ‘outrage mob.’” But the outrage mob was not outraged by anything in the book itself. It was evidently outraged because Burchill asked Sarkar, “Can you please remind me of the age of the Prophet Mohammad’s first wife?”
Burchill is clearly speaking about Muhammad’s child bride Aisha, not his first wife, Khadija, who was fifteen years older than he was. But that’s just a detail. Commenters raked Burchill over the coals for her supposed hypocrisy for ignoring child marriage in British history and claiming that Mary was a child when she married Joseph. Yet none of that was on point. No one would care about Muhammad’s child marriage were his behavior not normative for Islamic law and imitated by all too many Muslims even today. So what Burchill said, aside from mixing up the order of Muhammad’s wives, was entirely based on fact.
There is more. Read the rest here.
Mojdeh says
Mohamed was child molester and psycho and sharmota ? Any questions! Would you let your 6 years old daughter merry 40 years old perverted?
gravenimage says
+1
Walter Sieruk says
The real reason that book event was canceled is because Islam is such a weak and fragile religion that it can’t stand up to or hold up to criticism of any kind, No matter how mild that criticism might be.
Mike says
ISLAM: THE POLITICAL CALL FOR JIHAD. ISLAM IS POLITICAL, NOT
RELIGIOUS.
Roger Woodhouse says
That indeed is the tragedy of the whole mess we are in.The truth cannot be allowed to expose this vile creed.Fifty years ago it would not have bern a problem as most of us in the enlightened West had no idea of this strange eastern religion with its barbaric customs.’Let them kill each other ‘would be the normal response from most people.Now they are amongst us ‘killing us’ but nothing can be said.
Jean says
It’s NOT a Religion, by any means; It’s a ideology, period….
newsupplements says
Rubbish. It can stand up to any scrutinisation and then be it realized that this is an unacceptable ideology to be active around community’s in the western world! It is not appropriate to seat a murderous genocidal misogynistic ideology around us! unless you want to kill the people or cull them for hidden reasons of your own. You are in power as a psychopath? but even if you achieve this you are stuck with a very oppressive ideology now rooted by force in the people themselves which also includes the security services who will most likely be perverted to upkeep the idioms of that brutal ideology. Hence.. You are a psychopath
mortimer says
Thou shalt believe that Islam is benign … even if they want to kill you for blasphemy or apostasy.
tgusa says
Here in America it only took about 55 years to go from the free speech movement to the no free speech movement. America has gone from calling for racial equality to calling for racial inequality. We have gone from fighting nazi ideology to funding nazi ideology. Everything we thought or believed seems to have done a 180.
There’s something happening here…
But what it is ain’t exactly clear…
somehistory says
That reminds me of a song.
There is an agenda by a certain group of people, now using islam as one of their weapons, by portraying them as victims of Christians, to carry out what they have been trying to do for years, and that is to do away with personal choices, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and even of thought. They have made the claim that they want to return to the Constitution, but that is just a ploy to deceive those ones who are unaware of what these people are really trying to do.
tgusa says
A song. It is. And you are correct, just a ploy to deceive the easily deceived, and there are many.
somehistory says
Too true. Not many are ‘looking at what’s going down.’
If they look, they don’t really see.
tgusa says
Nice. When you review recent western establishment behavior, Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong, come in to play as well.
somehistory says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7L7F8U398Q
Photos of current events accompany the old song.
tgusa says
Thanks. Haven’t seen that. There must be some terrible stuff “going down” in democrat cities. Battle lines being drawn, between the far left and a bit less left. The two united but opposing sides can never get along.
somehistory says
YW. There is an old saying, “There is no honor among thieves.”
A couple of days ago, an email came in with something about omar having a disagreement with aoc. I meant to read it to see what was going on between those two, but I was extremely busy, and didn’t get to it. Now, I haven’t been able to locate it as yet.
There is always more going on than I can process, but I see and read enough to know times such as these have never occurred before and if one doesn’t pay attention, it will mean a loss of life.
tgusa says
AOC and Omar? Now those are two I would never take seriously except for their position their security risk and their stupidity. However, in this case Omar is right Aoc is a coward for getting the vaccine before essential workers and the susceptible elderly get it first.
Lauren Hermann says
Brilliant comment, tgusa.
A little less than 50 years ago, I started to suspect there was “something happening here”:
from comments of my high school teacher who taught “World Cultures”;
from my father’s comments (he read every news magazine that was printed in English);
from personal experiences of my friends who had dated muslim men;
and from my own experiences, I became suspicious.
I don’t think it will be very long before free speech on Islam will be illegal just about everywhere in the West. We are committing cultural suicide and NO ONE CARES!! Those few people who do care are being silenced, arrested and even threatened (often by muslims) if they don’t keep quiet.
This is a harrowing time for all of us. This sounds a little lame, but I hope and pray that things will get better. Never, never give up!!
tgusa says
Thank you Lauren Hermann. Back in the day my World Cultures teacher was hyping China. Lol.
revereridesagain says
Having also had a book cancelled — after 3,000 copies of a 30,000 run released — on the demand of a well-connected cult bigshot — and what else is a Muslim bully like Ash Sakar? — I extend my heartfelt sympathy to Julie Burchill and hope she soon finds a replacement publisher who doesn’t think “spine” is just a term for part of a book cover.
gravenimage says
Book Criticizing Cancel Culture Gets Canceled Because Author Criticized Islam
………………….
Little, Brown clearly has no sense of irony–or of decency…
Westman says
“…the Hachette group, which owns Little, Brown…”
Is the “t” in “Hatchette” group missing?
Giacomo Latta says
”No, apparently all she did was note the readily demonstrable fact that according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad married a child. ”
Why is it that only those who oppose child marriage and say as much are condemned by the Left when promoters and practitioners of same who just happen to be muslim are not condemned by the Left? The only reasonable explanation to me is that the Left has adopted these beliefs without having the guts to openly admit it.
Billy Chickens says
Can you imagine what would happen if the 1962 hit “Ahab the Arab” was sung today?
IanB says
Try Spike Jones’ “The Sheik of Araby”. Brilliant!
IanB says
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mUpetfDRRS0
tgusa says
Or the1957 Ali Baba Bunny cartoon from Looney Tunes. Who would have guessed that Hassan Chop was a real life character? In 1994 it was voted number 35 of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
Linde Barrera says
I hope all of you who celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ God Incarnate had a wonderful Christmas, even under lockdown conditions.
I really appreciate all the comments with this article. My question for Muslim writer Ash Sarkar is this: “How do you as a Muslim
justify verse 8:12 and verse 9:5 in the Quran?”
Or does Ash Sarkar, like so many other
millions of Muslims, think that the peaceful behavior of most Muslims supersedes and stands out over and above those doctrinal words?
Billy Chickens says
Speaking of books, there’s this going on at Books a Million – the Quran is now placed above Catholic books.
https://lesfemmes-thetruth.blogspot.com/2020/12/islam-preferred-religion-of-books.html
somehistory says
They don’t allow Bibles into moslim countries and if they had their way, there would be none printed or distributed or sold anywhere. And they have “friends” who agree with them.
Ray Stevens was bold with his songs. He should write a book about writing and singing his songs…with language he used in times past. The “Ahab” song and the “The Streak” would both inflame moslims, I reckon. (“Is that you, Ethel?”)
OLD GUY says
WOKE UP you’re going to be ruled by ISLAM. If you are looking forward to living in your apartment cave, bing afraid to go outside, worried about your family telling the sharia police what you say and think then bowing to the demands of the islamic dictators is for you.
Islam is not going to make the world a better place to live. It will kill, murder and rape its way across your country and neighborhoods with no second thought about who they harm. Islamic leaders only care about one thing, POWER and they use violence and intimidation to get it and keep it.
Kepha says
Were I young, I’d dance around the headquarters of these publishers with my thumbs in my armpits shouting cluck-cluck-cluck-AAAAH! (You’re chicken!).
It’s too bad nobody ever applied the antitrust laws against the media moghuls and big tech. They’ve turned American creativity into bland sameness (has anyone seen a truly original movie or novel recently), and are too cowardly to permit any criticism of either the Fascistic Antifa or Islam.
As for the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, it was no such thing. It was merely a ploy to mainstream Marxism-Leninism and permit the use of the f-bomb in polite society. Conservatives need their own free speech movement in these days.