Salmon Rushdie

I had the opportunity to see Salman Rushdie speak on freedom of expression earlier this week. Salman Rushdie has spent a large portion of his adult life in hiding and under police protection after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa requiring Rushdie’s death over his book The Satanic Verses. Considering what Rushdie has endured over his writings, I had great curiosity about his feelings on this subject.

I hadn’t really thought about the subject of freedom of expression before seeing Salman Rushdie. My views were pretty standard - hate mongering and racism have no place in society. After hearing Rushdie speak, I have had to rethink the extent of my views on this subject. While I hold to my original view, I agree with Rushdie that suppressing people’s words, no matter what those words are, is an attack on freedom of expression. In fact, trying to suppress anything tends to bring the very thing you are trying to suppress into the limelight. Rushdie’s statement on the subject — “I want to know who the assholes are.”

It is difficult to watch someone like Donald Trump tear a nation apart. It seems that the more he lies and bullies, the more entrenched his supporters become. Yet stopping him from spreading his message of hate and exclusion would only help to cover up the problem. After what has happened in the American election campaign, the USA can no longer ignore who they really are. Until they come to terms with that reality, their problems are not going anywhere.

“What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.” - Sir Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)