This is a tough one. I am, of course, opposing any violent attack upon this old man and I wish him well. However, on a philosophical level, I do not agree with Salman Rushdie on any single level and I never have all of my life. I do not like his writing in any way, shape or form, and I think that he is yet another vain, postmodern, neurotic, bad writer seeking fame through a selfsame Leftist press. He is a horrible writer, and he is an extremely bad example of a modern writer. As a modern writer or more modern than Rushdie, I think that Mr. Rushdie would be wise to "get with the times". I would never disrespect the Prophet Muhammed in my writing, and anyway, why would I desire to do such a thing? Indeed, the Prophet Muhammed strikes me as quite an interesting...prophet. He went to a cave to write down his visions, which became a book that is rather interesting to read, and extremely imaginative. The Prophet Muhammed would seem to be a far superior writer than Salman Rushdie ever became, just on the face of it. You may accuse me of being influenced by the events of 9-11, and I will concede that for a younger writer, such a large event does put things in perspective. Nevertheless, the Postmodern way has always been to destroy and disrespect things simply because they exist. Having said all of that, I naturally strongly believe in the American First Amendment. And, as a writer--and a publisher--I am not opposed to exploring any and every single option available to words, which means everything under the Sun. However, I look at this in the same way that I look at writing a memoir, which I have done several times. The writer rolls the dice. The writer takes the chances. He believes in his art, his talent, and he follows through to the end. But, there is always risk involved, and that makes the words that much better. And yet, still, the writer finishes because he feels that his art is above all else--and it is, by God. And God, Himself, does indeed give the writer many, many free passes and open doors and people on his side. What the writer does with that is up to him or her. But to simply throw all of that in the garbage--just because one can--has always seemed pointless to me. It is interesting; I have had this very point in the back of my mind for a very long time, and here it is today. So, in the end, I will say that I respect Salman Rushdie slightly, in one, single way: in that he had the stones as a writer to follow through with his art. But, I do not like him, nor do I like or even so much as vaguely respect his art--in fact I truly, truly, despise it, and all that it represents, and the sooner it goes away forever the better is it, Praise Allah.
In the great words of Hank Williams, Jr.:
We say grace, and we say ma'am,
and if you ain't into that then we don't give a damn.
Country-boy shall survive.
....indeed, have mercy.