My thoughts on Salman Rushdie
Free speech is all of our responsibility
As I write this article Salman Rushdie is being taken off of life support and is making a recovery after the writer was viciously attacked on stage by an extreme ideologue looking to cash in a fatwa (a quasi lawful edict) placed on the author for his literary work called “The Satanic Verses” published in 1989.
“From the beginning men used God to justify the unjustifiable.”
― Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses
The book was considered a blaspheme against the Muslim prophet muhammad. Salman went into hiding with round the clock Police protection for many years. His critics on both the right and left accused him of misusing freedom of speech and he has faced credible death threats over the years. His book has been banned in several Countries and some Western Countries have also called for its banning. Several people involved in the books publishing and translating have been murdered or seriously injured.
This type of religious attack is not new. The controversial publication of Charlie Hebdo in which the prophet is physically drawn in several issues had resulted in several terrorist attacks committed against the authors and on French police starting around 2011. A cyber attack against the website replaced the welcome page with,
"You keep abusing Islam's almighty Prophet with disgusting and disgraceful cartoons using excuses of freedom of speech. ... Be God's Curse On You! We will be Your Curse on Cyber World!" (1)
Other attacks included the fire bombing of the offices, death threats that resulted in hosting difficulties and consistent threats on all forms of social media. It all cumulated in a terrorist attack in January, 2015 which left 12 dead. Platitudes, thoughts and prayers and the usual slacktivism played out its usual tune across the Western Nations. The most ironic form of slacktivism was the phrase uttered, “Je Suis Charlie Hebdo or I am Charlie Hebdo.” What would have been a much more effective show of solidarity would have been all of these newspapers, journalists and politicians posting the cartoons that got the Office of the publication attacked in the first place. That however was far too risky because that is actually taking a stance in which the stance taker now has a stake in the conversation. Also there were more people then we wanted to admit that vocally and silently believed that the publication had it coming, that they had gone too far with freedom of speech.
As content creators we have to be willing to tell the tough stories. The first time we decide that a story is too controversial, too hot of a topic or that it needs to be curtailed so that someone is not offended we are no longer supporting our medium in an authentic way. No topic is off limits and the more dangerous it is to report on it, the more it needs to be reported on and explored. There is no right not to be offended and the more violent the opposition the more we need to share the responsibility amongst all of us to ensure the safety of people expressing their freedom of speech even if we hate what they are saying.
It isn’t enough to say “I am Salman Rushdie or I am Charlie Hebdo” because that isn’t taking a stand, that is copping out in the worst way by associating your self with a cause without assuming any of the risk involved. Instead, post the images that offended or quote the text that cause the book burning, even if you disagree vehemently with them, even if you are scared because free speech is worth protecting at cost.