August 22, 2008
Random House Bows To Catholic Pressure, Pulls Novel
KIDDING!
Had you there, didn't I? Actually it was a novel about the nine year old wife of the Prophet Mohammed, and author Sherry Jones is now looking for another publisher.
"Random House made the decision to cancel its US publication of the novel 'The Jewel of Medina' after much deliberation and with great reluctance," a statement from the publisher sent to AFP said."The decision was based on advice from scholars of Islam, among several creditable sources, that publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community and could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."
Hat-tip: Eidelblog, where Perry wonders about a possible double standard.
It's strange. I'm trying to think of when Catholics "strongly advised" Dan Brown and Doubleday regarding "The Da Vinci Code," or when Protestants issued death threats against someone for mocking Jesus. You might remember, Catholics did protest against "The Golden Compass," but show me one person or structure that was ever threatened.
This is a dangerous slope. And another reminder of the unseriousness of the civil libertarians. I get goose bumps when I think of the ACLU defending the right of Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois (man I hate Illinois Nazis!) but that was a long time ago.
Freedom on the March Posted by jk at August 22, 2008 11:15 AM
This means that the terrorists have achieved some of their objectives. That is, change the behavior of non-Muslims to "respect" Islam. It emboldens further fear and intimidation. More precisely, the double standard that PE notes subjugates all other religions to Islam. We must not allow ourselves to be intimiated.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at August 22, 2008 11:58 AMIt's the militant arm of the Salvation Army we should be worried about.
Sheesh... there are literally tens of thousands of people (some may be your neighbors) who are trained to use those bells as truncheons.
Let's not even discuss those buckets. This is a family blog.
Posted by: AlexC at August 22, 2008 12:15 PM(The Knights have those swords, ac!)
Br, your tense betrays you -- as you point out, we have already allowed ourselves to be intimidated. Game over.
Posted by: jk at August 22, 2008 12:46 PMWe have certainly lost a few battles, but The Refugee doesn't think the war/game is over yet. Americans have a history of being pushed just so far. This Refugee is not ready to break out the prayer rugs just yet.
Posted by: Boulder Refugee at August 22, 2008 4:57 PMI suspect you're right. It just seems that publishing is now lost to freedom. First it was academia, then media, now to see Random House afraid to publish a book after we saw booksellers capitulate on Salman Rushdie in the 90s.
Disheartening.
Posted by: jk at August 22, 2008 6:09 PM | What do you think? [5]