Salman Rushdie Quote

"There was a number of ways in which such an event could cripple a writer," Mr. Rushdie says of the death sentence that lasted until 1998, when the Iranian government withdrew support for it. "One way was that it would frighten you into innocuousness – that you would suddenly try and avoid writing anything that could in any way upset anyone. Which would essentially mean you couldn't write anything. Or, it could provoke you into vindictive writing. Kind-of revenge fiction. And I thought both of those things would destroy me, because they would turn me into a creature of the attack."

- Salman Rushdie from a very fine Wall Street Journal interview that can be read here.

This is just another instance of how a religion of control and judgment squelches love and creativity. Notice how he perceptively describes the result as either "innocuousness" or "vindictive writing". Both leave creativity and love in a shambles. Despair or anger. The Christian community should take note. - DOB