Howling Frog Books: "Banned Books Week is coming up.."
21/09/15 11:45
“...Remember just about ten years ago, there was a big kerfuffle in Europe over some editorial cartoons? Flemming Rose, a new editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, was hearing more and more that people were self-censoring on the subject of Islam. An illustrator asked to work on a children's biography of Muhammad said that he would do the work, as long as his name did not appear on the book. Well, Rose thought that was maybe not so good and everybody should start talking, so he asked a whole lot of cartoonists to submit portraits of Muhammad. Twelve ran, and pretty soon there was a mess. Death threats, murder attempts, incitements to riot in Islamic countries, and a lot of yelling ensued. Rose (who had actually spent most of his career in Russia) was both taken aback by the reaction, and upset to find that an awful lot of people thought that censorship of one kind or another would have been better than running the cartoons.
Here, Rose talks in some detail about the whole incident, and then moves into a wider context, giving his arguments against the idea that only "punching up" is acceptable (power dynamics are a lot more complex than that) or that minorities ought to be protected by legislation. He gives his thoughts about European worries about free speech over the past 70 years or so. He also talks about his time in Russia and the severe curtailment of free speech that has been habitual there. Finally, he gives some specific incidents from Islamic countries showing that anti-blasphemy laws are mostly used to oppress, not to protect vulnerable minorities.
It's all quite fascinating and very worth reading; a valuable addition to the ongoing discussion of what free speech means and how far it can or should be taken...”
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Here, Rose talks in some detail about the whole incident, and then moves into a wider context, giving his arguments against the idea that only "punching up" is acceptable (power dynamics are a lot more complex than that) or that minorities ought to be protected by legislation. He gives his thoughts about European worries about free speech over the past 70 years or so. He also talks about his time in Russia and the severe curtailment of free speech that has been habitual there. Finally, he gives some specific incidents from Islamic countries showing that anti-blasphemy laws are mostly used to oppress, not to protect vulnerable minorities.
It's all quite fascinating and very worth reading; a valuable addition to the ongoing discussion of what free speech means and how far it can or should be taken...”
Read more
The Washington Times: The fear that continues to consume journalists
10/02/15 18:24
“...Mr. Rose’s life is now forever marked by the Cartoon Crisis. He’s had about a decade to reflect on some daunting questions, including, “What do you say to people who ask how you can sleep at night when hundreds of people have died because of what you have done?”
His book-length answer to that question is impressive. “The Tyranny of Silence” is one of the three or four best books that the libertarian Cato Institute has ever had a hand in publishing — up there with Gene Healy’s “The Cult of the Presidency” and Jonathan Rauch’s other free speech classic, “The Kindly Inquisitors.” Not coincidentally, the back cover of Mr. Rose’s work carries an endorsement by Mr. Rauch, which begins, “Should I be afraid to blurb this book? Reading it makes me wonder.”
The book is not so much a rousing defense of freedom of expression as an exploration of what happens when journalists cave in to the censors, the would-be ayatollahs, the placard wavers or just the ordinary decent people who don’t understand why we can’t all be nicer. It documents a ratchet effect more pronounced in Muslim countries and communities but present in every society. Some folks claim offense, they are conciliated, the conciliations are passed into law, and this only emboldens more people to be outraged...”
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His book-length answer to that question is impressive. “The Tyranny of Silence” is one of the three or four best books that the libertarian Cato Institute has ever had a hand in publishing — up there with Gene Healy’s “The Cult of the Presidency” and Jonathan Rauch’s other free speech classic, “The Kindly Inquisitors.” Not coincidentally, the back cover of Mr. Rose’s work carries an endorsement by Mr. Rauch, which begins, “Should I be afraid to blurb this book? Reading it makes me wonder.”
The book is not so much a rousing defense of freedom of expression as an exploration of what happens when journalists cave in to the censors, the would-be ayatollahs, the placard wavers or just the ordinary decent people who don’t understand why we can’t all be nicer. It documents a ratchet effect more pronounced in Muslim countries and communities but present in every society. Some folks claim offense, they are conciliated, the conciliations are passed into law, and this only emboldens more people to be outraged...”
Read more