Our regular contributor Cathy Seipp has this tart article on our home page comparing the liberal handwringing over the (untrue but ultimately deadly) story that U.S.military personnel flushed a Muslim prisoner’s Koran down the toilet to the apathy among the same erstwhile handwringers over the pending fate of journalist Oriana Fallai, who faces criminal charges in Italy for daring to villify radical Islam in her book “The Force of Reason” (forthcoming in the U.S. in January):
“Now in my opinion, the Koran should not be flushed down the toilet. I don’t even think tampons should be flushed down the toilet, as I always warn my tenants. If I have to send a plumber over to clear the pipes, and he finds a copy of the Koran down there, those tenants are going to be in big trouble.
“I also generally agree with official U.S. policy that the holy books of other cultures should be treated with respect. Still, there’s a limit as to how much respect any mere object – even a book – should command. When religious fanatics break out into murderous riots at the mere thought that their special book has been (as they say) ‘mistreated,’ I think that limit has been reached.”
And here’s Cathy on Oriana:
“Fallaci’s opinions may very well be offensive to Islam, as well as unfair to nonviolent, moderate Muslims, but I don’t want to see only nonoffensive books published. And it would be nice, by the way, if the feminist establishment would take up the cause of a woman intellectual currently being harassed by the most misogynistic religion on earth.”
Don’t hold your breath. As InkWell readers know, The Other Charlotte and I have posted many a time about Fallaci’s plight (see this sample from TOC), but as far as I know, we belong to the only organization with the word “Women” in its title to care two figs about what happens to this brilliant and courageous woman journalist.