tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post3350181334782441480..comments2024-03-22T06:22:08.010+00:00Comments on Stephen Law: Spellberg "warns" the MuslimsStephen Lawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02167317543994731177noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-78618482216531602532008-08-20T17:13:00.000+00:002008-08-20T17:13:00.000+00:00Well whatever her correct suffix she has certainly...Well whatever her correct suffix she has certainly cast a spell on Sherry Jones and Random House.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-92032561736229901032008-08-20T11:39:00.000+00:002008-08-20T11:39:00.000+00:00anticant:Getting the name wrong was my fault. Apol...anticant:<BR/><BR/>Getting the name wrong was my fault. Apologies..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-75767608812313763022008-08-20T10:51:00.000+00:002008-08-20T10:51:00.000+00:00Anonymous - yes, I think you should. Who is "Spell...Anonymous - yes, I think you should. Who is "Spellman"? I think you mean "Spellberg".anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-37264343842480383672008-08-20T08:33:00.000+00:002008-08-20T08:33:00.000+00:00anticant - My apologies- I should read more carefu...anticant - My apologies- I should read more carefully.<BR/> <BR/>I note that the Spellman book has at least an excerpt available via Amazon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-59011828206139716802008-08-19T19:47:00.000+00:002008-08-19T19:47:00.000+00:00Not the withdrawn book - the book by the whistle-b...Not the withdrawn book - the book by the whistle-blowing [or mullah-rousing?] academic lady - "Politics, Gender and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of 'A'isha Bint Abi Bakr" by D.A. Spellberg [available from Amazon]. <BR/> <BR/>I'm curious to know what sort of an apologia she makes for Mo's sexual life, but doubt whether I can be bothered to obtain and read it. <BR/><BR/>Life [mine, anyway] is too short!anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-23717977133667708362008-08-19T18:01:00.000+00:002008-08-19T18:01:00.000+00:00anticant - thats alright for those who happen to h...anticant - thats alright for those who happen to have been in Serbian bookshops recently. but for those who rely on Amazon and don't speak Serbo-Croat it's going to be a bit of a spectator sport.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-1300293439534156212008-08-19T13:46:00.000+00:002008-08-19T13:46:00.000+00:00In order to make an informed judgement, maybe we s...In order to make an informed judgement, maybe we should put Spellman's book on Aisha on Stephen's new Book Club's reading list??anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-55734321187252866992008-08-19T13:32:00.000+00:002008-08-19T13:32:00.000+00:00I'm not sure that Spellberg's getting her lawyer t...I'm not sure that Spellberg's getting her lawyer to tell Random House they would sue if RH associated her name with the book shows that 'clearly...she was fearful.' That's one possibility, but there are others. I think the lawsuit threat is quite compatible with her feeling indignation and outrage - it looked to me like a kind of grandstanding display of angry solidarity with The Offended of the Earth. I could be wrong about that of course.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-54464320513570600132008-08-19T09:53:00.000+00:002008-08-19T09:53:00.000+00:00Spellman is quoted as follows:"I don't have a prob...Spellman is quoted as follows:<BR/>"I don't have a problem with historical fiction. I do have a problem with the deliberate misinterpretation of history. You can't play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography."<BR/><BR/>She is the author of a book on Aisha. I am curious to know what she considers the appropriate treatment of sex between a nine year old girl and a grown man. I infer she has not condemned the sex as this would cause her more problems with Muslims than an association with the novel. Does anyone have any hard facts on this question?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-40773047990736797712008-08-19T09:17:00.000+00:002008-08-19T09:17:00.000+00:00Hi Cassanders - but notice that Spellberg is repor...Hi Cassanders - but notice that Spellberg is reported to have got her lawyers involved to make sure her name was not in any way associated with the book. So she clearly was thinking that she might somehow be associated with it, and fearful of the consequences. I think this gives a little bit of support to my hypothesis that her actions were largely motivated by fear, rather than e.g. indignation, outrage, etc.Stephen Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167317543994731177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-54581493539499089142008-08-19T09:12:00.000+00:002008-08-19T09:12:00.000+00:00Of course it is difficult to speculate about other...Of course it is difficult to speculate about other persons' motives.<BR/><BR/>However I am a bit puzzeled by the suggestion that Dr Spellberg somehow should fear for HER OWN safety when "blowing the wistle"!? <BR/><BR/>After all she was merely a reviewer of the book. <BR/><BR/>I would expect the usual tantrums (which of course could be violent) to be directed towards the author and in worst case, the publisher. (cfr Nygaard on the "Satanic Verses").<BR/><BR/>Cassanders<BR/>In Cod we trustAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-34092768017994656792008-08-19T08:07:00.000+00:002008-08-19T08:07:00.000+00:00A further snippet appeared last night on BBC World...A further snippet appeared last night on BBC World Service News and others to the effect that the book had only just been withdrawn from publication in Serbia. there seems to been some suggestion that it had got as far as being on the shelves in the region ad had been made available in translation (not cheap).<BR/><BR/>Spellbergs actions aside - what are the publishers playing at?<BR/><BR/>Cant find text yet on BBC site - suspect it may be art of audio stream but see others <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1425036.php/Serbian_Muslims_divided_over_publisher_withdrawal_of_US_book" REL="nofollow"><BR/>Here</A> <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://europenews.dk/en/node/13156" REL="nofollow"> and here </A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-69064646521455606592008-08-18T16:23:00.000+00:002008-08-18T16:23:00.000+00:00Thanks, Ophelia. Are you the butterfly, or the whe...Thanks, Ophelia. Are you the butterfly, or the wheel, or a butterfly on wheels?<BR/><BR/>Seriously, it's a nice site.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-24529766269369844822008-08-18T16:05:00.000+00:002008-08-18T16:05:00.000+00:00Anticant - it's an outrage that the link doesn't w...Anticant - it's an outrage that the link doesn't work! Anyway my site is the one that Stephen links to at the beginning of the post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-1016962475565923792008-08-18T08:48:00.000+00:002008-08-18T08:48:00.000+00:00I find TA the least worst psychological theoretica...I find TA the least worst psychological theoretical framework - far more down to earth and less speculative than Freud & Co. There's a lot more to it than 'games'. And when combined with other methods such as Fritz Perls' Gestalt techniques, it's a very effective therapeutic tool.<BR/><BR/>So be warned, all you word-spinning philosophers: I am transactionally analysing your every move!anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-42028016355791509202008-08-18T08:28:00.000+00:002008-08-18T08:28:00.000+00:00Transactional analysis eh? I did a talk for a UK T...Transactional analysis eh? I did a talk for a UK TA org last year. Very interesting. I liked the games, but thought the detailed theory less convincing.<BR/><BR/>I guess my view is that there are various plausible psychological accounts of why Spellberg did what she did (including anticant's and Ophelia's) that fit the data fairly well. We have here a classic case of "underdetermination of theory by data".Stephen Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167317543994731177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-26062049584317706352008-08-18T08:00:00.000+00:002008-08-18T08:00:00.000+00:00BTW, Ophelia Benson, I clicked on your name link o...BTW, Ophelia Benson, I clicked on your name link only to be told “this web page does not exist”, so am none the wiser. However, you appear to be much more adept at reading other peoples minds and discerning their unspoken motives than I am. This “mystic meg” type of activity is not favoured by Transactional Analysts like me, who vulgarly refer to it as “mind f***ing”. <BR/><BR/>I prefer to view Ms Spellberg’s activities through the perspective of the TA Victim-Persecutor-Rescuer Drama Triangle. She sees herself as a Rescuer of Muslim sensibilities, so Persecutes Random House and the author, and ends up as a Victim of upholders of free speech. The name of her game is something like “I Was Only Trying to be Helpful.”anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-22871557689369172522008-08-18T06:42:00.000+00:002008-08-18T06:42:00.000+00:00Muslims and their apologists in the West have a di...Muslims and their apologists in the West have a disproportionate sensitivity to "offence". They seek, quite understandably, to silence those who criticise them, or whom they deem to have "insulted" their faith, by implicit threats or actual violence. They seek to control through fear, while claiming they are "victims".<BR/><BR/>In an open society, all of us have to put up with being offended from time to time. It is part and parcel of living in a democracy, where dissent and debate are the warp and woof of intellectual life. This is not so in Islam - the meaning of which in Arabic is "submission". <BR/><BR/>Non-Muslims like Spellberg who collaborate with their project are known by Muslims as "dhimmis". In Cold War days they would have been called Fellow Travellers.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-42057761077343078892008-08-17T22:00:00.000+00:002008-08-17T22:00:00.000+00:00I like the charitable for now interpretation, beca...I like the charitable for now interpretation, because for one thing it's a consensus-disrupter, which is always useful. I now notice that I never really even considered the possibility that she was afraid - and that is of course possible.<BR/><BR/>Just for elucidation I'll explain how I've been assuming her actions made sense to her - which is that a combination of her discipline (medieval Islamic history) and her politics motivated her to want to be (as it were) sensitive to 'offense' as it pertains to Islam, and that she therefore reacted the way she thought a 'sensitive' Muslim or friend of Islam would react. In other words she was sent a book that she thought would be 'offensive' to Muslims in the same way that The Satanic Verses and the Danish cartoons and the novels of Taslima Nasreen are (putatively) 'offensive'; she had this privileged information, since Random House had sent her the advance proof to read, so she had a duty to 'warn' Muslims of this possible (in her view probable) 'offense' and at the same time to warn Random House of the danger. What she said to Asra Nomani seems to support that view - she was indignant about making fiction out of what she called 'sacred history.'Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-5504180901177852162008-08-17T19:27:00.000+00:002008-08-17T19:27:00.000+00:00I notice (according to WSJ) that the publisher sig...I notice (according to WSJ) that the publisher signed the contract for a two book deal for a decent sum of money. Would they have done this for a writer with no track record? At the very least I would have thought that they had an outline and possibly a few draft chapters in the bag before committing so they must have known what they were getting. After all it's listed on Amazon.<BR/><BR/>Spellberg's position of an academic writing of things Islamic should have meant that she was (a) less likely to panic (b) capable of condemning the book within her presumed remit as a reviewer as inaccurate, badly, written etc. or whatever her professional opinion was, <I>directly to the publisher</I>. <BR/><BR/>The timeline looks damning. Why did Spellberg not contact them first rather than stirring things up? If she was worried about safety it would have been better to get the thing quietly dropped or expurgated rather than let the world know that they were supposed to be offended by this book. Now the author of the unpublished work is at risk - after all how any of Salman Rushdies stalkers had actually read the book? <BR/><BR/>(the real anonymous)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-29782532730241316182008-08-17T19:17:00.000+00:002008-08-17T19:17:00.000+00:00I tend to take a libertarian view on free speech i...I tend to take a libertarian view on free speech issues. We should be able to say and publish whatever we want; be it conflicting views, supposed moral/amoral beliefs, and religious vs anit-religious treatises. So long as we are not directly violating other people's autonomy it should be allowed. And I think words, although powerful, are not enough to directly violate individual liberty when all individuals have the freedom to speak back with equal power. <BR/><BR/>Free speech is what keeps democracy and capitalism in check. As long as we have the ability to speak freely, government, political and religious groups, will never be able to attain enough power to control absolutely. Conflicting ideas is what makes democratic nations move forward progressively and more intelligently in their goals.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10930279484815540663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-58828466721563658912008-08-17T18:38:00.000+00:002008-08-17T18:38:00.000+00:00Like all too many academics, this Ms. Spellberg ap...Like all too many academics, this Ms. Spellberg appears to be a clueless, self-important biddy, if you ask me!<BR/><BR/>One of the problems about supporting free speech is that you find yourself defending all sorts of products, and artists, who you find really rather distasteful. From the description of it, this book seems to be in that category.<BR/><BR/>As a great champion of free speech [alas, now dead] once said: "A piece of low-grade rubbish must be as important to us as 'Ulysses', even though that principle may lose us both sympathy and battles". <BR/><BR/>Of course the too-numerous Muslims who are prepared to resort to violence and even murder to silence their critics have made the whole topic much more fraught than it used to be. But it is all the more a vital pivot of a free society.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-38128621608452467282008-08-17T17:57:00.000+00:002008-08-17T17:57:00.000+00:00Of course if she had contacted the Muslim web guy ...Of course if she had contacted the Muslim web guy out of fear, she would be unlikely to admit that now. For that would be to admit having acted foolishly. More likely she'd brazen it out as she has. So I don't think we have much reason to suppose she didn't act primarily out of fear and panic. So I think we should be charitable for time being.Stephen Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167317543994731177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-60648901964090163592008-08-17T17:30:00.000+00:002008-08-17T17:30:00.000+00:00If she was motivated by rage, and contacting the M...If she was motivated by rage, and contacting the Muslim website guy was done in the hope that widespread Muslim anger would then be brought down on the author, that's very weird indeed. Given, I mean, that she is clearly concerned about *not* provoking a violent response.<BR/><BR/>I can't really make much sense of what she thought she was doing, to be honest, so I was going with the most charitable interpretation. I don't feel I have enough info. to feel confident about accusing her of more, at this point. But you may be right, I don't deny that. Indeed, for all I know, she merits us getting the four-by-two and the nails out.Stephen Lawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02167317543994731177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1905686568472747305.post-45067080929739786632008-08-17T16:13:00.000+00:002008-08-17T16:13:00.000+00:00That comment wasn't anonymous, it was mine, but it...That comment wasn't anonymous, it was mine, but it did something mystifying. Anyway, to put it a bit more clearly, I agree that if she feared for her own safety I wouldn't want to get too judgmental either; but from everything I've read so far she wasn't personally afraid, rather she was angry; she thought the book was bad, and badly researched, and 'offensive' on religious grounds.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com