Posted on 10/02/2010 9:06:59 AM PDT by La Lydia
From a novel by Salman Rushdie published in 1989 to an American civil protest called "Everyone Draw Muhammad Day" in 2010, a familiar pattern has evolved. It begins when Westerners say or do something critical of Islam. Islamists respond with name-calling and outrage, demands for retraction, threats of lawsuits and violence, and actual violence. In turn, Westerners hem and haw, prevaricate, and finally fold. Along the way, each controversy prompts a debate focusing on the issue of free speech.
First, that the right of Westerners to discuss, criticize, and even ridicule Islam and Muslims has eroded over the years. Second, that free speech is a minor part of the problem; at stake is something much deeper – indeed, a defining question of our time: will Westerners maintain their own historic civilization in the face of assault by Islamists, or will they cede to Islamic culture and law and submit to a form of second-class citizenship?
The era of Islamist uproar began abruptly on February 14, 1989, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's supreme leader, watched on television as Pakistanis responded with violence to a new novel by Salman Rushdie, the famous writer of South Asian Muslim origins. His book's very title, The Satanic Verses, refers to the Koran and poses a direct challenge to Islamic sensibilities; its contents further exacerbate the problem. Outraged by what he considered Rushdie's blasphemous portrait of Islam, Khomeini issued an edict...
This unprecedented edict – no head of government had ever called for the execution of a novelist living in another country – came out of the blue and surprised everyone, from Iranian government officials to Rushdie himself. No one had imagined that a magical realist novel, replete with people falling out of the sky and animals that talk, might incur the wrath of the ruler of Iran, a country to which Rushdie had few connections.
The edict led to physical attacks on bookstores in Italy, Norway, and the United States and on translators of The Satanic Verses in Norway, Japan, and Turkey; in the last case, the translator and 36 others perished in an arson attack on a hotel. Other violence in Muslim-majority countries led to more than 20 fatalities, mostly in South Asia. Then, just as the furor wound down, in June 1989, Khomeini died; his death made the edict, sometimes inaccurately called a fatwa, immutable.
The edict contains four important elements. First, by noting "opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran," Khomeini delineated the wide range of sacred topics that may not be treated disrespectfully without invoking a death sentence.
Second, by targeting "all those involved in the publication who were aware of its contents," he declared war not just on the artist but also on an entire cultural infrastructure – including the thousands of employees of publishing houses, advertisers, distribution companies, and bookstores.
Third, by ordering Rushdie's execution "so that no one else will dare to insult the Muslim sanctities," Khomeini made clear his purpose not only to punish one writer but also to prevent further instances of ridicule.
Finally, by demanding that those unable to execute Rushdie "report him," Khomeini called on every Muslim worldwide to become part of an informal intelligence network dedicated to upholding Islamic sanctities.
The edict set several precedents in the West. A foreign political leader successfully ignored conventional limits on state powers. A religious leader at will intervened directly, with little cost or resistance, in Western cultural affairs. And a Muslim leader established the precedent of applying an aspect of Islamic law, the Shari'a, in an overwhelmingly non-Muslim country.... These four features together constitute what I call the Rushdie Rules. Two decades later, they remain very much in place.
The edict contains four important elements. First, by noting "opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Koran," Khomeini delineated the wide range of sacred topics that may not be treated disrespectfully without invoking a death sentence.
Nuke Mecca.
The trashy rantings and droolings of their Pedophile Pirate “prophet” promise that Mecca will stand forever.
Prove the genocidal savage wrong, and no more Islam.
Islam must be destroyed.
Nuke Mecca.
The trashy rantings and droolings of their Pedophile Pirate “prophet” promise that Mecca will stand forever.
Prove the genocidal savage wrong, and no more Islam.
Islam must be destroyed.
Well put.
And worth repeating ;)
I think that very few people noticed the fact that Obama’s response to that Florida pastor’s stupid and basically insignificant Koran burning was essentially to acknowledge his role as the defender of Islam in the US. For a stupid publicity stunt, he called out the entire power of the US government, ranging from the commander in Afghanistan to the Department of Defense and the FBI – all to stop an insult to Islam.
I don’t think most of us really understood the significance of his actions, but I did and I think we are in big trouble.
Yes. He needs to be neutralized, politically. I think ridicule is the best way to go. And it drives him crazy.
To add insult to injury, and to make an example for others who would speak out against Islam, the Florida preacher is being billed $200,000 for the police overreacting. The lesson: Don't exercise free speech if you don't have a couple hundred thousand extra dollars laying around.
> And worth repeating ;)
While not my intention, due rather to my fumble-fingers, nevertheless, you are correct.
This message must sink-in.
Islam must be destroyed.
bfl
That is why the mid-term election on November 2, 2010 and the Presidential of 2012 will be the two most important elections coming up.
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