Salman Rushdie and America’s free speech ambivalence

[Millerreserve]

The young Islamic Men grew up in Madrassa or Islamic Schools many of which were funded and founded by Saudi money who have planted many schools thruout the Middle East. From what they and other religios have told me is that Islam and the state are one. I met at the University of Iowa some Saudis students who were Law Enforcement majors. I asked them what there ambitions were and they told me that they want to return home and serve there country with the skills and American Education that they picked up here. I asked if their country would ask them to be part of the religious Islamic Law Enforcement in Saudi Arabia would they join? “Yes it would be a great honor to do so!”—I can only hope and pray that while they are here in the USA that some of our liberal ideaswill rub off on them so when they go home they will show mercy in a land that has some of the worst human rights practices in the world vis ve our friends in Saudi Arabia. This is not the first time foreigners have used American Universities to learn how to violate human rights abroad last I heard The School of The Americas was still in buisness where Latin American generals and dictators are trained . Georgetown School of International Studies has also graduated some interesting people as well to say the least.

 

[Sameer]

The young Islamic Men grew up in Madrassa or Islamic Schools many of which were funded and founded by Saudi money who have planted many schools thruout the Middle East. From what they and other religios have told me is that Islam and the state are one. I met at the University of Iowa some Saudis students who were Law Enforcement majors. I asked them what there ambitions were and they told me that they want to return home and serve there country with the skills and American Education that they picked up here. I asked if their country would ask them to be part of the religious Islamic Law Enforcement in Saudi Arabia would they join? “Yes it would be a great honor to do so!”—I can only hope and pray that while they are here in the USA that some of our liberal ideaswill rub off on them so when they go home they will show mercy in a land that has some of the worst human rights practices in the world vis ve our friends in Saudi Arabia. This is not the first time foreigners have used American Universities to learn how to violate human rights abroad last I heard The School of The Americas was still in buisness where Latin American generals and dictators are trained . Georgetown School of International Studies has also graduated some interesting people as well to say the least.

How exciting for them. They will see things that we do not even notice. They will experience a different kind of freedom. Every manner of behavior and experience will have an effect on their consciousness. It is freedom of thought that ignites change and change in society comes only when there is a change of consciousness among the people. It is different for religious people versus those who are political. Everything evolves. There is a reformation and a modernization in Islam in some places like Turkey with the Hanafis and in Saudi Arabia too, and other places that would be imperceptible to the Western eye. Some dogma will never change. Traveling to another countries and immersing ourselves opens our eyes and our minds. It changes everyone. I visited Saudi Arabia twice when I was 16 and 27 years old. The Hajj. Everyone was from everywhere in the world. That's when I begin thinking with a worldview. For them to go from living in a theocracy to whatever it is we have here will be a great adventure for them and everyone they meet will have influence. Share your own thoughts with them. For Muslims religion has a answer and an effect on every aspect of life and every decision and every thought.

 

[Millerreserve]

Well of all the TV cop shows that I have seen over the past 50 years I have yet to see a police officer or dectective of Islamic Middle Eastern descent. Which is unrealistic considering that 15% of New York City is middle eastern

 

[Sameer]

There are approximately 1400 officers who are Muslim in the NYPD and almost 5,000 serving in the US military. We are really everywhere but it is not so noticeable. Hahaha!

 

[AbuQittun]

He wasn't a literary giant. Mediocre at best. It's not the conservative that want to limit free speech it's the liberals who are offended by everything. That's my honest opinion.

What I find amazing, is the sheer hypocrisy of people on the right-wing saying that liberals are offended by everything and want to limit free speech. In my country, where this seems to be said the most, it's both democrats and republicans on different things and at different times. I'm a left leaning anarchist. I firmly believe that someone should have the right to have a shitty opinion/idea, but they should be aware that I too should have the right to have an opinion and say why it is a shitty opinion.

How is it the liberals that want to limit freedom of speech, when it's invariably republicans complaining about gay pride parades?

 

[Sameer]

Opinions are just opinions. A political edict cannot change the inherent nature of a society. Changes come from a evolution of consciousness. I have no political leanings so I tend to look at the spectrum of political thought and the people who think there are political solutions to all of society's issues as myopic. Government shouldn't intrude into our daily lives and thoughts or the ability to express ourselves. Every community has the right to express their ideas without others taking offense or making judgments.

 

[bote]

@Sameer the notion you put forward several times that Rushdie was a "mediocre" writer who gained fame through controversy is 100% false. He had published 3 best-selling and critically acclaimed novels prior to The Satanic Verses, including Midnight's Children, which sold millions of copies and won the Booker in 1981, the biggest literary prize in the world for an English novel.
To misrepresent his place in the literary world so badly makes me question your further arguments, as I question any and all the strong positions taken for and against this book, by people who have most likely never read it.
His brand of pot-boiler, magic realism isn't my cup a tea, but the only reason anyone gave a shit about the Satanic Verses is because Rushdie was and is a very competent and accomplished author.

 

[Sameer]

Winning awards does not make you a great artist. In his one notable book he writes a story about identity and loss. Not a lot of creativity or even innovative ideas. Philosophically mundane. He is no Albert Camus. And on again and off again atheist trying to justify his loss of faith, and of course, later in life he recants all. He's popular on his home turf but that does not make him good or great.

 

[bote]

Winning awards does not make you a great artist. In his one notable book he writes a story about identity and loss. Not a lot of creativity or even innovative ideas. Philosophically mundane. He is no Albert Camus. And on again and off again atheist trying to justify his loss of faith, and of course, later in life he recants all. He's popular on his home turf but that does not make him good or great.

Take a look at his publication history, he's won major awards in france, russia, the united states etc, been translated and sold millions of books in dozens of languages. His books have been made into Hollywood movies and taught in postcolonial lit courses at universities all over the world for the past 4 decades, way more common on modern lit reading lists than Camus whom you mentioned.
If the only criteria that matters to you is your own opinion so be it, but by most metrics he's one of the most acclaimed and recognizable english authors of the past 50 years.
Anyway, how good an artist he is has nothing to do with your claim that he was not widely known or respected as an author before the satanic verses controversy.

 

[Sameer]

Personally I don't think what he wrote was all that controversial. Sold a lot of books... Look for me his writing is shallow
I like to read but I only read what I like.
“E.M. Forster wrote that “the final test of a novel will be our affection for it.”. I have no affection for Rushdie. Some people like him and some people don't.

 

[AbuQittun]

He sold alot of books. It made him notorious amongst his opponents. I get that that is the bottom line for them. There we'll agree.