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In fall of 1991, when I was a senior in high school, our Western Civ. teacher asked a Muslim student to come to our class and talk about his religion. As best I can tell, his family was one of the very first practicing Islam in our entire county in rural North Carolina.

During the Q&A, I asked him, since it was a big deal at the time, what did he think of Salman Rushdie.

"I would have to kill him if I saw him," he said.

This was from a 17-year old kid, in a public high school classroom, and I don't know what was scarier: the fact that he said it with such nonchalance or that the teacher didn't even so much as bat an eyelash.

...our Western Civ [t]eacher asked a Muslim student to come to our class and talk about his religion. As best I can tell, his family was one of the very first practicing Islam in our entire county in rural North Carolina.
During the Q&A, I asked him, since it was a big deal at the time, what did he think of Salman Rushdie.

"I would have to kill him if I saw him," he said.

Did you get flamed for posting this? It's very un-pc, you know. Didn't you watch the TV program from Hollywood Friday night? "All you need is love." (turning sarcasm off)