Congratulations to Rushdie. He's one of the few great writers of our day and continued to work in spite of the Fatwa issued ordering muslims to kill him on sight. We are fortunate for his unceasing exemplification of courage, compassion, and creativity.

How come you always pick on Muslims but never say a thing about the Christians?!

Is this going to be it? Is this what the next big war will be? Is the West going to have to try to take out the Muslim world - the good, the bad, and the ugly?

The situation in Europe is getting creepier by the day. I remember a line in a recent film about Muslim fundamentalists: "In ten years you won't be able to buy a lunchtime Big Mac during Ramadan."

Is that the plan?

I think the war has already started, Bauhaus. It's just slowly been building momentum since at least the 1970's and possibly earlier. Now that technology has made the world a smaller place, the clash between modernity and ancient belief systems is spreading to all corners of the planet.

Bauhaus,

Yes, thats the plan. But lucky for us, Isreal is on the case. Most likely we will be drawn into a protracted global conflict, the goal of which is to completely isolate and destroy the enemies of the state of Israel - oops, I mean the US.

Hey, Tiffany? My inbox is stuffed with emails from Christians yelling at me about the "Month of Sundays" feature package, and how evil and hateful and anti-Christian it was. So, uh... one anti-Muslim blog post this week vs. a 10,000 word feature package...

And it's not really an anti-Muslim blog post. It's an anti-batshitcrazy, violent, fundy nutjob Muslims post. They are, of course, not to be confused with mainstream Muslims, Islam means peace, etc., etc.

I was being sarcastic, Dan.

Oh, duh. Sorry. Long day.

has sarcasm on the internet ever failed?

Shoulda used a caring 'n' kind "Seattle sarcasm warning label." Sadly, no reader offered one, gratuitously.
Merci.

Tiffany -- "I think the war has already started, Bauhaus. It's just slowly been building momentum since at least the 1970's and possibly earlier" -- maybe you're right. The roots perchance are a bit longer than 35 years...I seem to recall something about Spain expelling the Moors by 1492 and those Junkers and whatnot helped keep the Turks out of Vienna in what the 1600's and before that wasn't there something called the Crusades? Crusaders? Something. Anyway, with our vjast cultural knowledge here in the USA I am sure we are now on the right track, committing to a long term plan to fight more moslems over there in the Middle East, babysitting every conflict as we must whenever someone tells us that bomb yesterday was linked to Al-Queda. Anyway, back to studying al-gebra in the Al-hambra. Praise Jesus Christo!

Dan, you need to concentrate your stress into a big ball of magic.

Then destroy Charles with it.

Thanks. Let me know how it works.

Whilst I have no particular interest in Sir Salman’s novels I am pleased to see him honoured as his knighthood demonstrates that whilst honouring our own we will not be intimidated or influenced by outside political pressures.

It is of course ludicrous to claim that this honour is “an obvious example of fighting against Islam by high-ranking British officials.” Were this true we would not have seen a 2005 knighthood bestowed by The Queen upon Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, described by The Guardian as the “Most Influential Muslim in the UK”.

Rather than criticise the British government, Iran should congratulate Britain for having recently raised a number of British Muslims to the highest ranks of British Society as members of the House of Lords. These include Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, the first Muslim peer; Lord Patel of Blackburn, leader of the British Hajj Delegation; Baroness Falkner of Margravine; and Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green. See my blog for more: http://www.bloggingyoungfogey.blogspot.com

And it probably doesn;t need pointing out, but Mr. Rushdie himself is a Muslim.

How much are the bounties on Bush and Cheney?

Yeah of course Ferdinand, I guess the Muslims will never get over the crusades. But since I am an atheist, does that give me justification to issue fatwas against every religion for their treatment of my compadres, going back to before recorded human history?

Not only is Salman Rushdie a fantastic writer, he pisses off the Irani regime just so damn well. I think I'll go out and buy three more copies of The Satanic Verses to give as gifts.

At least when Starbucks decides to issue his next book as an audiobook and loop it non-stop for a day it won't suck like Sir Paul's album so thoroughly did.

Don't worry, 50 years from now it'll all be over and everyone will be happy.

Fucking savages.

Art@14 - No, he's not. Where exactly did you get that information?

Hew grew up Muslim, but gave it up later in life.

I am inflamed by Bush's implicit agreements to give Pakistan nuclear weapons, hide Osama bin Laden, and work with Saudi dollars to host terrorist organizations.

I don't really care if the Muslim world is inflamed by that.

But that's reality.

Fucking savages.

Please be a little critical of the media. "The Muslim World" is not inflamed about Salman Rushdie's knighthood, anymore than the "Christian World" is inflamed about Jerry Falwell's hellbound ways so much they want to picket his funeral. Muslims are crazy in the same "abortion is murder" and "god hates gays" ways that Christians are, they're just more successful in taking over governments.

Again, look back at the news records of the Dutch cartoon scandal -- not one person was purposefully killed except when protests got too close to US military bases (and protesters were killed) or during existing ethnic warfare in Africa.

Some people in the media, especially in western Europe, just take the easy road and dehumanize Muslims the same way that Fox News dehumanizes gays and liberals.

And 'Apathos' is on its way closer to the earth by 2024, and if it hits the outer rim of our orbit it may just be enough to change its orbit for a direct collision around 2036.
Think about that, and this planets bickering will seem small in comparison to that catastophic future event.....most likely to happen if we don't keep attention to fund the science to stop that. I dont see that happening except observation and conjecture. There is however a scientist who knows it can happen and is on it all by his lonesome. Maybe the powers that be around the world do not care. Maybe its what this religious war needs.

"No Communists in my car! No Christians, either!"

Chaz Mudede, Pat Robertson, and Osama Bin Laden are equally unwelcome in my ride.

Oh god, people in Pakistan and Iran are angry about this? Quick, somebody appease them! Boycott something Israeli before they threaten to blow themselves up over this latest affront to the Prophet!

I love the Slog. The crude generalizations never stop around here.

I bet there are riots in the streets and fires are blazing in every Arab neighborhood from Morocco to Pakistan. Assassins are hounding Rushdie as we speak and every Muslim woman and child are gnashing their teeth at their outrage. Somewhere in a Parisian suburb immigrant youth plan on attacking and raping a white woman in retribution to Rushdie being knighted. It is now only a matter of time before the west bust unite and put down the Muslim threat before the gates of Mordor.

What a wonderful fantasy world we've entered when the public outrage of a few becomes the single voice of a community of millions.

The problem isn't so much how Ahmad Average feels in Lahore as it is the actual governments of places like Iran, which still has a quasi-official bounty on Rushdie's head. In fact, whoever kills Salman Rushdie can look forward to collecting now fewer than a dozen bounties from Sudan to Indonesia, all of which would pay more than a million dollars.

And then there's the statement by a Pakistani MP, one Mohammed Ejazul-Haq, who came right out and said (emphasis mine): "if someone commits a suicide bombing to PROTECT THE HONOR OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD, his act is justified."

You know, I remember a lot of pissing and moaning (no pun intended) about Andres Serrano, but I cannot for the life of me recall anyone putting a bounty on his head, or any Christian politicians giving the public green light for someone to whack him. This isn't about cultural imperialism; it's about state sanctioned violence against intellectuals. You'd think that would strike a chord here, but I guess that perhaps it doesn't.

These wannabe fascists trade on the kindness of America's tolerance. My grandpa wouldn't be as conflicted about saying something like, "Fuck the tyranny of Islam".

Seriously, Muslim world...please clean house. There are limits to anyone's patience. Your audacious desperation is getting as unforgivable as Bush's. At some point, the targets of your hate are going to put down their misguided leaders and you'll be next if you don't calm the fuck down. We're gonna get you with Pepsi and Hollywood. We're nuts.

And how's American going to wage this war, how is the United States going to win it? You'd think more people on the Slog would be fighting in Iraq right now, given how much they really seem to want a showdown.

I don't like Islamist states, but what am I going to do? Tough talk them, arm myself and fight them physically, place more sanctions on them, go to war with them? I see a lot of ideological polemics here, I see a lot of tough talk, I see a lot of jibber jabber about how we're too tolerant of Islam. What I don't see is any of your pussies joining up to fight Islamists or really sacrificing a fucking thing to confront them. But I guess that's what the working class soldiers are for, isn't it? They can fight and die for your Manichean ideology.

The reason we're not toppling Muslim state after Muslim state is because even Bush is smart enough to figure out that their are limitations on what the US and Europe can do- it's called political realism. Like it or not, the Muslim world must be dealt with diplomatically if at all.

their should be there.

amazing pieces if news..... the muslim people who are so inflamed about something so silly are nuts. in fact, anyone who believes that the world was created by some god and then his prophet came here to guide us and died horribly or whatever is nuts. absolutely gone, think it coldly, use your brain, use science..... nothing supports any kind of religious thinking.
and religious people, who feel they can tell me how to behave...they are just plain stupid. some, like this idiots with their fatwa are more dangerous than others, but equally stupid.
send them all to the moon!

When will the Muslim world get inflamed about the honorary knighthoods given to Billy Graham and George Bushy the 1st?

Or the real knighthood given to fucking Bono for that matter...

The fundies have to be mad-as-hell about something or else they would no longer exist. That's the whole idea: them against the rest of the world. That's why they can never be appeased.
Overtime people get tired or get smart and quit following these scam artists. But until they do there's plenty of tears for everyone.

@24,

Danish, not Dutch.

And, truthfully, fundamentalist Muslims make demonizing them too damn easy.

Tiffany says: ""Yeah of course Ferdinand, I guess the Muslims will never get over the crusades. But since I am an atheist, does that give me justification to issue fatwas against every religion for their treatment of my compadres, going back to before recorded human history?"

Er, no, it doesn't and funny thing, I didn't say it did. Are you compensating for being called out for historical cluelessness?
Since you want to be boringly literal, okay: guess what we may agree and there is no need for you to presume a stance I did not assert then attack it with your passive agressive questions.

Moslems have been in conflict with the West for over 1000 years. Moslems are in conflict with each other with dozens of deep rifts we can barely understand, much less try to manage.

We don't even need to go figure out who is right and who is wrong and the morality of it all because we just can't do anything about it. WE certainly can't occupy them and work for peace nor invade them and attack them and babysit their civil wars.
We should: (A) get out of Iraq where we just expose ourselves as targets and inflame their hatred (and if you aree a militant in the war against "terror" retreat is not surrender; G. Washington retreated for about 7 years before he won one big battle; why not retreat and fight/penetrate/defend agasint them here, where they can come anyway?); (B) work for a solution between Israel and Palestine knowing full well it is likely just not possible, and (c) keep all the land we took from the Moslems from the year 1000 to 1700 including most all of Spain (my doing, you know), and most of Europe southeast of Vienna.
And no they have no justification for these fatwahs (but this does not mean you have justification for saying ignorant and so-American things like "these conflict roots are deep, at least 20 years old!" in your "wise" cautionary tone. Get a clue, it's like 1400 years old!
Adioth, amigath, hathta lumbago!

Apathos people Apathos, thats the real scary deal.

Well Ferdinand, it would only be "historical cluelessness" if I wasn't aware of things like the crusades. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe I actually am aware of it, that I just think it's stunningly idiotic to be concerned with something that happened hundreds of years ago?

Jay @32

Don't ask the hard questions or we'll type crazy words about fucking you up to, American Realist.

We'll do it with $27 Chinese flat screens and 32 Oz To-Go mugs.

We'll ride on you and the Muslims alike in Hi Top Donks on 26s you sensible piece of shit.

I can't go to war because I'm in prison you idiot. But you know why I'm here? I hi-jacked a Greytop cab and crashed it right the fuck into a 7Eleven on September 12th, 2001. What the fuck have you done besides inform the internets on what's real and what's jibber jabber (lay off the Boston Legal secret handshakes, we see you working)?

You just vote or fight or whatever it is you do and let the rest of us acquiesce at our own speed, warrior pants.

Whoa. That's intense.

Was it worth it?

Merkin: Hahahaha.

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