August 13. Salman Rushdie was one of the first authors I became interested in. I had just escaped religion myself and all the commotion had made me curious. So I read The Satanic Verses and was impressed. Such story power.

Fundamentalists cannot accept free thought unless they cease to be fundamentalists. In that sense, they rightly perceive Rushdie as a threat.

For the West, siding with Rushdie is easy. What matters is whether you would defend a person who says things that you yourself find offensive.