In Norway, William Nygaard, head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug, which published The Satanic Verses, was shot three times by Lebanese man, Khaled Moussawi and an unnamed former Iranian diplomat. (Pryser Libell, Henrik and Richard Martyn-Hemphill (10 October 2018). "25 Years Later, Norway Files Charges in Shooting of 'Satanic Verses' Publisher". New York Times.)
There seems to be something buried in the hearts of all of us (I wish I could say I was exempt) that bristles at contradiction, that becomes deeply threatened when our most precious ideas are mocked or attacked or even analyzed/discussed in ways we think are slanted or uncharitable. (It's as if besmirching our precious idea or self-conception is violating our sanctum sanctorum, is just as bad as violating our bodies or our families.)
But then there are the fanatics, the people who treat even one deviation from their particular fundamentalism as an intolerable assault (Wallace Stevens called them "lunatics of one idea"), the kind of people who can only feel whole if they not only silence you, but also punish you for your crimes against their psyche. And this can encompass everyone from a primitive tribesman baptized in the One True Faith to a credentialed intellectual who imagines their ideology as condoning its own form of holy war.
But true tolerance, settling disputes with words not violence, is the foundation of civilization, and though we like to think such issues have long been solved because it's 2022 and we all carry computers in our pockets and reside at the pinnacle of history, these values—free speech, free thought, freedom of expression—don't come naturally or easily to a large chunk of humanity and have to be fought for in every generation, most especially by those of us who love books, art, culture, and all the fruits of the imagination.
You make an interesting comparison between these two men. It's hard to believe that people are still being attacked for what they write. At least Rushdie seems to be recovering from his wounds, but his life will never be the same as it was.
Collectivists, whether of the religious or secular variety, have certain things in common throughout the ages, one of which is that if you are outside the collective, any sanction up to and including death is permissible since after all anyone outside the collective is not merely a person with bad ideas but a Bad Person.
I can't praise Rushdie better than Hitchens did (see footnote 2), but for this to happen all these years later just makes this weird awful glitch in the universe that much worse.
Such a great writer to be caught up in this meaningless episode over theological points that the accusers didn't read and that were hardly some sort of headlong attack on Islam.
And given everything that has happened since, for fanatics to go after this peaceful man. I'm in shock.
Anything but complete support of freedom of speech at this moment in time is a betrayal of civil, democratic society.
Great and horrific parallel.
In Norway, William Nygaard, head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug, which published The Satanic Verses, was shot three times by Lebanese man, Khaled Moussawi and an unnamed former Iranian diplomat. (Pryser Libell, Henrik and Richard Martyn-Hemphill (10 October 2018). "25 Years Later, Norway Files Charges in Shooting of 'Satanic Verses' Publisher". New York Times.)
There seems to be something buried in the hearts of all of us (I wish I could say I was exempt) that bristles at contradiction, that becomes deeply threatened when our most precious ideas are mocked or attacked or even analyzed/discussed in ways we think are slanted or uncharitable. (It's as if besmirching our precious idea or self-conception is violating our sanctum sanctorum, is just as bad as violating our bodies or our families.)
But then there are the fanatics, the people who treat even one deviation from their particular fundamentalism as an intolerable assault (Wallace Stevens called them "lunatics of one idea"), the kind of people who can only feel whole if they not only silence you, but also punish you for your crimes against their psyche. And this can encompass everyone from a primitive tribesman baptized in the One True Faith to a credentialed intellectual who imagines their ideology as condoning its own form of holy war.
But true tolerance, settling disputes with words not violence, is the foundation of civilization, and though we like to think such issues have long been solved because it's 2022 and we all carry computers in our pockets and reside at the pinnacle of history, these values—free speech, free thought, freedom of expression—don't come naturally or easily to a large chunk of humanity and have to be fought for in every generation, most especially by those of us who love books, art, culture, and all the fruits of the imagination.
Down with all tyrants! (Of the mind)
Thanks as always, Kathleen.
You always raise interesting perspectives. I do appreciate your diverse topics and tenacity. 😊
Well done as usual. Why writing so often leads to violence is strange; it should instead deter it.
You make an interesting comparison between these two men. It's hard to believe that people are still being attacked for what they write. At least Rushdie seems to be recovering from his wounds, but his life will never be the same as it was.
Collectivists, whether of the religious or secular variety, have certain things in common throughout the ages, one of which is that if you are outside the collective, any sanction up to and including death is permissible since after all anyone outside the collective is not merely a person with bad ideas but a Bad Person.
I can't praise Rushdie better than Hitchens did (see footnote 2), but for this to happen all these years later just makes this weird awful glitch in the universe that much worse.
Such a great writer to be caught up in this meaningless episode over theological points that the accusers didn't read and that were hardly some sort of headlong attack on Islam.
And given everything that has happened since, for fanatics to go after this peaceful man. I'm in shock.