British author Salman Rushdie, seen here in July 2005, said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality.(AFP/File/Mauricio Lima)
Posted on 01/18/2006 8:31:37 PM PST by NormsRevenge
BERLIN (AFP) - British author Salman Rushdie said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality.
Rushdie told German weekly magazine Stern that his latest novel, "Shalimar the Clown", dealt with the deep anxiety felt among many Islamic men about female sexual freedom and lost honor.
When asked if the book drew a link between "Islamic terror and damaged male honor", Rushdie said he saw it as a crucial, and often overlooked, point.
"The Western-Christian world view deals with the issues of guilt and salvation, a concept that is completely unimportant in the East because there is no original sin and no savior," he said, in comments printed in German.
"Instead, great importance is given to 'honor'. I consider that to be problematic. But of course it is underestimated how many Islamists consciously or unconsciously attempt to restore lost honor."
When asked why he probed the issues in his new novel in the context of a love triangle, he said: "It has a lot to do with sexual fear of women."
Rushdie, 58, said that much of the anger toward the West was provoked by that split on sexual issues.
"(It is) because Western societies do not veil their women. Because they do not defuse this potential danger," he said.
The Indian-born Rushdie, who lives in New York with his fourth wife Padma Lakshmi, told Stern that he has lived without security protection for seven or eight years.
"I go where I please," he said. "I went to India often in the last few years, which I enjoyed."
Rushdie was forced into hiding after the late Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious edict, in 1989, calling for his execution because of alleged blasphemy and apostasy in his novel "The Satanic Verses".
The author had a 2.8-million-dollar bounty placed on his head by a Tehran-based foundation.
British author Salman Rushdie, seen here in July 2005, said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality.(AFP/File/Mauricio Lima)
Beat me by less than a minute!
So what does he propose? That we sexually liberate Arab countries to end their suicidal ways? Maybe we need to drop dildos so that the men will get jealous and spend more time pleasing their wives/girlfriends than blowing themselves up.
Well, when you already have 1 fatwa upon you, you may as well start a collection of them. Go Salman! GO!
I wonder if female "circumcision" related to Islam's fear of women's sexuality?
Apparently, Mr Rushdie likes to live his life running from machete wielding Arabs.
It happens... next time. ;-)
Salman, do you have a death wish?
Either he's dumber than we think, or he thinks we're dumber than we think.
(....got that?)
Leni
Wasn't this obvious?
I wouldn't get all excited about Rushdie. He may hate Islam, but he's still a liberal.
Yes.
I figured out that Muslims had sexual problems quite a while ago just from reading FR and I'm not a psychologist.
Do squishy lefties think about much of anything other than sex?
I believe the concept of "lost honor" is the key here, rather than severe cases of Little Dickism (although I'm sure there's a lot of that going around too.)
I've never seen it explicitly stated, but I suspect that many Muslim men are more concerned that their wives and daughters be veiled, rather than that random Muslim females or Western women be veiled. If other men commit adultery in their hearts with "their" women, they have lost their honor, and must take revenge. The women are handiest and easiest to punish. Of course the whole society has to enforce the standards of modesty, or individual men won't be able to make "their" women toe the line and cover up their female identity. Thus the attacks on random women who dare to expose female faces or shapes.
I can only say, if I were a Muslim woman rather than an American, I'd be severely tempted to post naked pictures of myself (with the face obscured) on the internet, thereby cuckholding my assinine, dictatorial "husband" as many times as possible.
Which explains the success of the West.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.