Salman Rushdie: porn, the occult, terrorism and blasphemy.

[DulceDecorum]

August 20, 2004 - The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie is now on his fourth wife, a PORN star, and has written an essay for a soon-to-be-published book on pornography entitled, XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The book is allegedly inspired by the death of PORN star Linda Lovelace in a 2002 car crash.
Rushdie's essay in this PORNOGRAPHY book argues that PORN IS VITAL TO FREEDOM and that free and civilized societies should be judged by their willingness to accept such materials....
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1823
And some of you are FAR more civilized than Cat Stevens,
here is where you can demonstrate your freedom.

The book includes short essays on the intersection of pornography and culture by a wide range of distinguished writers, from Salman Rushdie to John Malkovich, Nancy Friday to John Waters. XXX is a landmark artistic work that will contribute to the ongoing debate about the pornification of the culture at large.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0821277545/002-2407401-7448818?v=glance

Rushdie's notorious friendships with OCCULT GROUPS and group members such as ANTON LAVEY and book shows at popular OCCULT GATHERINGS has linked him to OCCULT ACTIVITY. In various interviews Rushdie has professed to practicing OCCULT ACTIVITIES including alchemy. This seemed to only fuel the fire of media and critics. His accusations and critical comments regarding the fatwa later made him a marked man in the Muslim community. Rushdie has made statements to defend his book but still many in the Muslim community consider him a wanted man. Famous people in the Muslim community stepped out in defense of their Muslim faith to protect their image.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie
(The US Postal Service, for many years,
delivered all mail addressed to Satan
to the abode of Anton LaVey.)

At the time that he wrote The Satanic Verses, Rushdie was not a practicing Muslim.
The Satanic Verses is a fantasy about two actors from India traveling on an airplane. After a TERRORIST BOMB BLOWS UP THE AIRPLANE, they fall to Earth and survive. The controversial parts of the book center on just two chapters.
One of the Indian actors apparently is losing his mind. He dreams about God revealing his will to the Prophet Muhammad, who passes on the sacred words to humanity through the Koran, the holy book of Islam. But the novel refers to Muhammad by an insulting name used by Christians in the Middle Ages. As part of the dream sequence, a scribe called "Salman" writes down God's commands that are coming from the lips of Muhammad. The scribe, however, decides to play a trick by changing some of the divine words. Since Muslims hold the Koran as the revealed word of God, they deplored Rushdie for ridiculing it.
The title of the book refers to an old legend retold by Rushdie. According to the legend, some of the Koran's original verses originated with SATAN, and Muhammad later deleted them. By repeating this legend, Rushdie offended Muslims by associating the holy Koran with the work of SATAN.
One part of the novel probably outraged Muslims the most. It describes people mocking and imitating Muhammad's 12 wives. Muslims revere Muhammad's wives as the "mothers of all believers."

(Perhaps the most sensational episode takes place in a brothel and bestows on prostitutes the names of Muhammed's wives. ....
One Muslim, quoted in Time, likens this episode to "presenting the Virgin Mary as a whore.
http://www.webcurrent.com/rushdie.html)

Most Muslims reacted with shock and anger at these passages from The Satanic Verses. They felt that they had been betrayed by one of their own. Rushdie had been born a Muslim. Muslims accused Rushdie of turning his back on his roots to embrace Western culture. In the minds of many, The Satanic Verses symbolized the hostility of the West against the Islamic world.
A month after its publication, India banned the book. Bannings soon followed in Pakistan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and other countries with large Muslim populations. Anti-Rushdie demonstrations and book burnings took place in Britain.
Rushdie attempted to defend himself. He pointed out that his book was, after all, a work of fiction and that the part of the book that offended Muslims consisted of one character's deranged dreams. But this did not silence his critics. They demanded that the British government ban the book as blasphemous. The government refused on the grounds that ENGLISH LAW PROTECTED ONLY THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION FROM ACTS OF BLASPHEMY.
http://www.crf-usa.org/terror/rushdie.htm

MEANWHILE, IN OTHER NEWS ......

When Nikos Kazantzakis publishes The Last Temptation of Christ in 1955, the Catholic Church bans it and the Greek Orthodox Church excommunicates him. Three decades later, acclaimed director Martin Scorsese releases his screen adaptation of the novel. The film, according to its prologue, "is not based on the Gospels, but upon this fictional exploration of the eternal spiritual conflict." Scorsese, known for such masterpieces as Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, portrays Jesus as a confused man who struggles against his dual nature, in thoughts more than action.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/lasttemptation.html

When this picture first came out, I was working as an usher supervisor for a local theatre. And we received many copies of the form letter petition from various churches, which threatened a one year boycott of any movie house that dared show this degenerate film. Included on the petitions were selections of various quotes from the film to demonstrate how blasphemous it was. The petition targeted both Universal Studios and Martin Scorsese as evil. And our theatre, like many, succumbed to the pressure and agreed not to book the film (United Artists actually refused the movie on a national level). Only one theatre in my town showed the picture, and the picketers came out in full force against it.
http://www.dvdmoviecentral.com/ReviewsText/last_temptation_of_christ.htm
Trivia: The television premiere of the film on Channel 4 in the mid nineties still holds the record for receiving the most complaints about a broadcast on British television.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095497/

Nikos Kazantzakis, the guy who wrote Zorba the Greek - EXCOMMUNICATED.
Salman Rushdie, the guy who says porn shows civilization - PROTECTED SPECIES.

[Brian_Expat]

1. THAT BASTARD!

You've sure convinced me. He deserves to die for daring to be creative and provocative.

How dare an artist and writer express himself in a way that might offend the more narrow-minded?!?!

[skooooo]

5. Why were all those threads shut down??

I didn't think they were ALL dupicates. ARG

[Wat_Tyler]

2. I stand for freedom of speech.

I may not like the speech, but I stand for freedom. Who's with me?

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. I got your back, Wat.

This thread is nothing but devil's advocate-style flame bait. And I'm not biting.

[skooooo]

6. I'm convinced I need to start reading Rushdie...

Glad I read these descriptions of his books. They sound cool.

[Wat_Tyler]

8. Thank you, Beastman.

I defend the right of Yusuf Islam and Salman Rushdie to write what they believe.

[NervousRex]

23. But...but...

someone on one of the other Cat Stevens threads said that if I didn't support Mr. Islam's cultural context I was a Swift Boat Veteran....

[skooooo]

26. Well, are you??

Only you (and Cat Stevens) can answer that!

[NervousRex]

28. I am...

(head hanging in shame)...call me O'Niell and put out a fatwa on me. The cloud-being is angry, I am not welcome in His cultural context.

[skooooo]

29. That's it! I'm issuing a fatwah against you!

Better watch your back, bud. I gotta lot of, well i have some followers -- ok I have two cats and they can hiss pretty bad at ya!

[NervousRex]

31. Oh yeah?

Well...I am a struggling pop singer half Norwegian and half Albanian...I was born in Scotland and had a few hits, but now I am converting to Buddhism....you may now call me Yee Buddha...I have embraced the culture, and now any critique of me or my music is a direct critique of an entire culture of billions....Anything I say is a direct attack on the culture of a non-Western people, so watch it buster!!! Millions of American Liberals will now defend my actions in the name of cultural diversity, and kiss my ass, no matter what stupid shit I utter or who's ass I decide to condemn to death....Now If I could only get them to buy my latest album: "Tranquility Tram"

[stavka]

10. I'm all with you....

I don't get the original post's point at all.....

Write and read what you want. It doesn't hurt anybody.

Simple Test:

A) Forced to Experience/Forced to Participate in its creation = bad

B) If not A than = fair play


Rushdie is brilliant by the way, but I find his writing a bit too inaccessible, not bad, but inaccessible and it has nothing to do with subject matter.

[UdoKier]

3. Is there a point to this post?

Have liberals supported murdering Kazantzakis? No.
Have liberals supported murdering Rushdie? No.

I think normal, secular-thinking people are prettty consistent non this.

What do I care if Rushdie likes porn or the occult?

As for blasphemy, there is no such thing, since I am not a member of any superstition cults, like Xianity or Islam. Blasphemy is an irrrelevant concept.

It only applies to members of the same sect, who have agreed to live by the same prrecepts. I assume Rushdie is not of the same sect as the people who want him dead, so why the hell should he have to follow THEIR rules?

This is a very wierd post. If you're trying to justify putting out a death warrant for Rushdie, give it up. It can't be done. DUers wouldn't even support a death warrant for Rush Limbaugh, and he would be MUCH more deserving.

[stavka]

12. Now that was an awesome post!

"This is a very wierd post. If you're trying to justify putting out a death warrant for Rushdie, give it up. It can't be done. DUers wouldn't even support a death warrant for Rush Limbaugh, and he would be MUCH more deserving."

[DulceDecorum]

16. FYI

This is the paradox at the heart of the debate: how can you present yourselves as defending the great values of freedom and justice, if that defence promotes unfreedom and injustice?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4379974,00.html

[UdoKier]

32. It's not an either/or proposition.

I don't magically become "anti-American" simply because George Bush starts an unconscionable war (or even because of the myriad other crimes the US has committed). I'm an American, I love my country, and I will criticize its policies when wrong.

I suppose I would qualify as "anti-Islam" since I am against all religions in principle, but I'm not any more anti-Islam than I am anti-Southern baptist. I don't go out of may way to decry religious zealots until their zealotry starts to hurt others, as when American fundamentalists use their superstition as an excuse to kill abortion doctors, when Palestinians use it as an excuse to blow up buses full of innocent people, when Sharon uses it as an excuse to keep building settlements and walls where he has no business being, and when ayatollahs call for a man's death simply because he wrote a book he didn't like.

You don't like the Satanic Verses? Don't read it!

And by the way, your dated link does little to illustrate how defending freedom and justice also promotes unfreedom and injustice.

I never called the Iraq war a "defense of justice". It was a crime, as is our occupation. The fact that a despot is no imprisoned is immaterial. He was THEIR despot to take out, not ours. I believe very strongly in self-determination and sovereignty for all nations. So long as Iraq respected its borders and didn't pose a danger to its neigbors it should have been left to develop naturally. For some reason, people like Bush think they know what's best for the Iraqi people. As an American ignorant of their culture, I would never be so arrogant as to do that.

[Salman_Rushdie]

7. Porn is hot.

I mean, really. Tell me porn isn't hot. You know, the good porn. Like with two chicks doing it. The Prophet Muhammed had many wives, you know they did it. Yeah, baby.

[Swede]

14. Duck!

nt

[Brian_Expat]

9. One other quick note. . .

. . . a lot of those links (particularly the Traditional Values Coalition) are from Freeperville.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

11. Take it to the "Religious Rightwing Fanatics Forum".

[stavka]

13. LMFAO! Milk blown through nose, hymnal ruined (NT)

[IronLionZion]

15. Yet another reason why Indians rule!

porn! haha Maybe Mullah John Ashcroft and Mullah Jerry Falwell can issue another fatwa to match Ayatollah Khomeini's!

[fujiyama]

17. I happen to agree

that porn (to some extent) is normal and necessary in a civilized society. Obviously kiddie porn and anything showing rape, etc shouldn't be legal.

I know that will get me some flames, but it's sexual freedom. If a man wants to jerk off to some magazine, who cares? Many of the countries that ban porn have sexually repressed people and have a lot of problems sexually.

Let's just say that I'd rather live in a country where Playboy is allowed to be published. Even if I'm not going to be buying it.

[rot0r_head]

22. I don't think you need to worry about getting flamed

for advocating the 1st Amendment on DU. Now if you were to throw this to the legions of morals-when-advantageous faux-Christian thugs on certain other forums you'd be burned as a heretic.

[fujiyama]

35. .

[mopaul]

18. no one is banning jimmy swaggart from flying

and he threatened to kill gay men for simply looking at him. jerry falwell and pat robertson suggested 9-11 was god's wrath caused by gays and lesbians. to some zealots, this means it's o.k. to kill them. no one is banning those two idiots from flying.

[DulceDecorum]

19. Jimmy Swaggert is Christian.

Cat Stevens is not.
Muslims on planes = VERY VERY BAD.
Kill them all, let God sort them out.

Aug. 20, 2004
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy said yesterday that he was stopped and questioned at airports on the East Coast five times in March because his name appeared on the government's secret "no-fly" list.
<snip>
While he worked to clear himself, Kennedy kept having to wait in the terminal at Reagan National, Boston's Logan International and at least one other airport, his staff said. All of the flights were on US Airways. When the senator checked in at the counter, airline employees told him they could not issue him a boarding pass because he appeared on the list. Kennedy was delayed until a supervisor could be summoned to identify him and give approval for him to board the plane.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5765143/

Created: 23.09.2004
Passengers on a Moscow-Hurghada flight refused to fly to Egypt until a woman dressed in a hijab, traditional Muslim dress, was taken off the plane.
Several minutes before take-off a group of five people, including a woman dressed in a hijab, boarded the Tu-154 passenger jet belonging to Krasnoyarsk Airlines, the NTV television network reported on Thursday morning. The five were reportedly students from the southern Russian republic of Dagestan that neighbors Chechnya.
The plane took off only after the group of passengers was put on another flight.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/09/23/passengersrefuse.shtml

Nov 18, 2002
I may be a 31-year-old Muslim male travelling alone but, I will remind myself, that is not, as yet, a crime in itself. As I reach the end of the line, I usually pop a mint into my mouth and my eyes will scan across the half-dozen men and women who are inspecting the passports. Who looks friendly? Who looks as if they head the local chapter of the Aryan Nation? A married couple will be sharing a joke with one; a pretty girl will be flirting with another, her passport stamped after a few cursory questions. A wave of the arm and it's my turn. I breathe deeply, walk deliberately and try to remember to look relaxed.
If you didn't know better, you might think that racial profiling began at American airports on 12 September 2001. But as a Muslim male who has visited the US countless times, I know from experience that going through US immigration can be an intimidating experience. The hard stares and stern questioning routinely make me tongue-tied and flustered like some guilty schoolboy.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FQP/is_4614_131/ai_95764244

December 27, 2001
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- An American Airlines pilot earlier this month did not allow an armed Secret Service agent of Arab descent to board a flight to Texas, where the agent was to join the security detail at President Bush's ranch, U.S. and airline officials said Wednesday.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/12/27/rec.agent.airline/

[JVS]

20. John Malkovich is a distinguished writer? I thought he was an actor

[DulceDecorum]

21. Apparently John Waters is also distinguished enough

to be seen in the company of Salman Rushdie.

Waters Thrilled by Catholic Church Blast at Film
The review complains, "(The film features) almost non-stop rough, crude and profane language, full frontal nudity, sexual imagery, obscene gestures, scatological humor, casual portrayal and descriptions of deviant sexual practices, a glorification of freewheeling sex and some sacrilegious imagery."

"I don't know if I can get a better review than that," said Waters on Page Six.
http://www.dreamlandnews.com/news/

[Brian_Expat]

27. So you think he should be killed for hanging out with John Waters? n/t

[UdoKier]

38. John Waters' flicks are a riot!

I'm starting to like this Rushdie better the more you tell me about him. You gonna issue a Fatwa on me?

[Fescue4u]

25. He's a puppeteer also!

:)

[Fescue4u]

24. Allah says its ok to kill him then.

Allah hates free speech.

p.s. I like porn to, but does tell Allah or Big Mo.

[troublemaker]

30. What the fuck? No, really... what the FUCK?

I cannot tell if this post is an elaborate parody. If so, hat's off. If this post is serious, however, it's a particularly loathsome piece of book burning trash.

Occultism is stupid but no different from organized religion, which is just as stupid and for precisely the same reasons. Anyone who doesn't agree with that statement is delusional, but has a lot of company.

Porn is, IN FACT, vital to freedom and free and civilized societies should, IN FACT, be judged by their willingness to accept such materials. Anyone who doesn't agree with that statement is a fucking fool.

[UdoKier]

33. Well, a lot of feminists would disagree with you there.

I personally think that the benefits of porn (in its place - I don't want it on my free cable channels) outweigh the downside, but there is a downside. Thousands of young girls and a few young mens' lives have been wrecked due to their experience in porn. The humiliation, drugs, quick money, prostitution, etc. can take a young naive teen runaway and turn her into a jaded HIV+ prostitute addicted to drugs in only a few short years. Sure there is the occcasional Jenna Jameson - someone balanced enough to pull it off and actually make it into a career without it destroying their psyche - but Jenna is FAR from typical.

I personally think the porn idustry should be subject to a special tax to create special centers to help people in the sex industries keep their lives on track.

[troublemaker]

36. And "a lot" of Klansmen hate black people. And?

[UdoKier]

37. So feminists' objections to porn amount to bigotry?

Sorry, but that makes no sense. It may make them uptight, or overly controlling, or whatever - but I don't think it makes them bigots.

As I said - I think the pros of allowing porrn as a society outweigh the cons, but to act as though there ARE no cons - or anything any sensible person could possibly object to, is awfully oversimplistic.

I happen to like feminists and a lot of tenets of feminist thinking. Although I disagree with the Andrea Dworkins of the world, I do think that their concerns merit some attention.

Your glib, dismissive attitude is disappointing.

[NervousRex]

34. Amen Brother!

Porn is the first thing oppresive societies try to censor....then their definition of porn/filth expands to political speech....then to people...I know it's a slippery-slope argument, but there is historical data to back it up.