A few days ago, at the venerable and genteel Chatauqua Institution in upstate New York, Anglo/American, Indian-born author Salman Rushdie was brutally attacked as he got up to address an audience about threats to freedom of expression in the world today. Rushdie has intimate knowledge of what he speaks; he had to live in hiding for years after a fatwa and a bounty were placed on his head in response to perceived blasphemy in his novel, The Satanic Verses (1988).
In an article about Rushdie's assailant, the young man's mother says her son changed after visiting his father in Lebanon, predominantly bitter because she'd never introduced him to Islam. He became moody and quarrelsome, sleeping all day and staying awake all night.
What really struck me is that in the middle of the article, the following advertisement appeared. Was it because I'd mentioned the group in recent posts, so the ad targeted me, or is it something much more cynical?
To whit (the ad from the article in question):
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| Meeting Jihadists with Crusaders |
If this ad appeared because LoS recently mentioned the Templars, it's understandable, that's how algorithms work. If I Google "flights to Addis Ababa," I'd expect to see ads for flights for Adis Ababa on sites I visit.
Or maybe it's just a coincidence.
But if they're intentionally marketing Templar-themed gear in an article about about a violent attack by a young Muslim, who appears to have been motivated by an old fatwa declared by the Ayatollah Khomeini, well....wtf, no?
The Templar motif has been widely used by groups both benign and malevolent, but like so many once-noble symbols, Templar imagery has been co-opted by the far right.
"OK?"
"18?"
"Don't tread on me?"
White nationalists who have "defended" Europe from Muslim immigration are in the mix, Anders Breivik among them.
But....using the attempted murder of Rushdie to sell merchandise, symbolically pitting one religion against another? Responding to an Imam-inspired attack by marketing Templar-themed clothing, the cross staring right atcha....
It may be a coincidence. Or it may be Diabolical....
Right-wingers call Latino immigration to the US an "invasion." Some rght-wing Europeans see Muslims as the invaders. All part of the "plan" -- the "Great Replacement" -- facilitated by the European left. Which is why Breivik targeted young Socialists in his rampage that left over 70 dead. Future "replacement facilitators," I suppose. (See more on Breivik as a fake cop, fake Freemason and fake Templar....)
And young, radicalized Muslims seem all too happy to riposte to the ripostes. A "Cold Crusade," if you will. No shortage of troubled, alienated young men on both "sides" to push into the role of martyr. Who doesn't want to be a hero?
It goes without saying, LoS supports an author's right to express their ideas, and if it so happens, to offend. Just like we supported the arguably more offensive Charlie Hebdo.
We wish Mr. Rushdie a speedy recovery and commend his courage in the face of threats he received during his defense of free speech for writers in any genre, anywhere they may be. Obviously, not idle threats. Rushdie's courage in the face of danger was not something played up by clever agents and publishing marketing departments.
And courage is needed, because these things have a way of snowballing and spawning copycats: Police are already investigating a threat to J.K. Rowling after she tweeted her support for Rushdie.
Try as you might, you can't silence us all. If anything, you'll just encourage more insult and blasphemy, if only out of spite. Ponder that. I had half a mind to republish that infamous Mohammed cartoon, but I did that before, at the time it was really overheating the hookahs....Maybe I'll just film myself eating bacon off my copy of the Quran. But to be honest, I have too many Muslim friends I respect to do that. But see where the mind goes when you physically asault us? Not pleasant places to visit. There are better ways to speak up, and perhaps one of those ways is before your eyes.
By the way, the book which started this hubbub, The Satanic Verses, has, as of this writing, once again become a bestseller (number 1, in fact). A fatwa and a brutal onstage stabbing; now that's marketing! I'm gonna have my publisher put an ad on Craigslist: "Young, alienated Salafi wanted for a one-time performance, all expenses paid. To be remunerated upon completion of the job. Ice Mine author to be silenced. (Please note that given the current shortage due to fierce competition from QAnon Global Elites, 72 underage virgins cannot be guaranteed, although a spot in Paradise has already been reserved)."
I think it could work. I'll wear a bullet-proof vest and a kevlar helmet. When the bodyguard I've hired -- I know a cop from Uvalde, Texas who moonlights as private security -- subdues the attacker, we'll go down to the bar for some porkchops and beer, and start planning on how to spend the money my now-infamous novella will rake in.
Good job trying to suppress Rushdie's work, stabber-lee. You dumbass. Salamu alaykum....
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