From: eric@flab.fujitsu.co.jp (eric)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.spain,soc.culture.portuguese,soc.culture.caribbean,soc.culture.brazil,soc.culture.bulgaria,soc.culture.netherlands
Subject: Re: CALL OF THE QUR'AN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Date: 11 Sep 92 11:17:27 GMT
	<1992Sep10.040531.29722@doug.cae.wisc.edu>
Followup-To: soc.culture.spain
Organization: Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd., Kawasaki, Japan.
In-reply-to: irfan@wiener.ece.wisc.edu's message of 10 Sep 92 09:05:31 GMT

Hey, what's everybody getting so excited about? I think this is kind
of fun, actually. It's twisted minds like Irfan's that add colour to
this life, and life to some virtually braindead newsgroups. It is a
waste of bandwidth, to be sure, but then again, isn't most of our
prattle? Here's how you should read his article.

>          ISLAM IS THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR ALL PROBLEMS
No no no, that's Dr. Quack's wonder elixir. Cures warts, baldness, all
sorts of VD's, coughing and spitting, promiscuity as well as
impotence, and mental diseases as well. Don't confuse matters!
>      Your societies are crying for freedom.
Not only ours, I gather...
>      Freedom, freedom, freedom!  What freedom you are talking about!  
How about freedom of religion?
> You are enslaving women,
Hear hear :-)

Etc. etc.

However, let's give Irfan a chance and see if he's amenable to reason.

> When Rushdie writes a book and  we Muslims show anger
> and criticize it YOU say freedem of speech.  I am almost sure
> once upon a time Rushdie issue was one of your popular discussion
> topics even if it has nothing to do with carabbien or any other 
> culture.  When somebody talks about Islam, it is not freedem of speech. 

Muslims have every right in the world to "be angry about" and
"criticize" the Satanic Verses.  Demonstrations have been held by
Muslims all over Europe to protest the book; I am not aware of any
case where such a demonstration has been banned. That is how freedom
of speech works.
However, pronouncing the death sentence is quite a different thing.
Killing a person is a crime, and inciting people to kill is also a
crime. In other words, Khomeiny, who pronounced the death sentence on
Rushdie, is a criminal under British law (I think, but I'm no expert;
maybe he would become a criminal if someone were to actually kill
Rushdie?). Not that he would have cared about British law, of course.
Freedom of speech is a necessity for any civilized society, but it is
nowhere unlimited, nor should it be. If you distribute pamphlets
saying it's not too late for the Endloesung, or that Hitler would have
done better to send Muslims to his gas chambers, you'll be arrested.
I'm sure you'll agree that that's good.

The problem is not so much discussing Islam on soc.culture.whatever,
it's the way you do it. First of all you're being abusive. Maybe you
think you have a right to, but then you shouldn't be surprised to get
abusive reactions. Second, you're cross-posting this message to, let's
see, 6 newsgroups at a time. As a matter of network etiquette, people
don't cross-post unless there is a very good reason. You're bound to
get "get-off-my-newsgroup" reactions, and you deserve them. Also, I
very much doubt whether you read any of these newsgroups on a regular
basis, which makes you an intruder of sorts. Finally, the tone of your
message is not one that invites discussion. I personally don't mind if
people discuss the Islam on "my" newsgroup, as long as it is done
rationally. You come across as a shallow shrill slogan-shrieker.

BTW, I'm changing the subject, but I read the Satanic Verses (twice
already) and I loved it! This is a poetic book of wonderful beauty and
deep meaning, very much recommended. It is also NOT insulting to
Islam; people who say that haven't read the book. It is however
insulting to Khomeiny: among the many stories woven into this book is
one of an exiled spiritual leader, who goes back to his country on the
back of the archangel Gabriel, defeats the old leader, then grows to
gigantic proportions and swallows his people as they come out to greet
him. The book is full of such beautiful, sort of surrealistic images.
Read it!

Eric.