Much ado about nothing inside much ado about nothing

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Aug 13, 2022 at 22:13

Dear Dr Pipes,

Freedom of speech is admirable because it lets people express their thoughts even when they might be incorrect. Freedom of Speech is mainly a call to humans to show tolerance toward others' opinions and expressions.

To my feeble mind, the entire Quranic satanic-verses affair appears to be a much ado about nothing inside another much ado about nothing.

Muhammd also deserved the freedom of speech rights as much as anyone else when he accidentally or intentionally proposed what might look like idolatry. Perhaps in a moment of weakness, he showed some appreciation for the worshiping methods of the pagans. If Muhammad was born in India, he might have accidentally said a word or two in praise of Krishna. Quranic putitans are essentially creating much ado about nothing when they chastise Muhammad for those few verses. Muhammad should not have had to invoke Satan to justify those few verses.
If anything, those verses are good.

Then, Quran itself is a much ado about nothing. Yes, there is a lot of virtue in monotheism and non-idolatry. But, some of us see some virtue in symbolism and idolatry also. The Quranic injunction about murdering those who apostate from Islam or worship idols is a even bigger ado about nothing.
It is perfectly admirable if you are humble and nice and don't associate anything with the God. But, you should also try to be humble and nice, to those who do.

And, to sum it all up to attempt to kill Salman Rushdie 1400 hundred years after all this happened is the biggest affront of all.

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