Three Huzzahs for SIR Rushdie

For those of you who have not heard, Salman Rushdie has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, this promptly incited groups of Muslims in Pakistan to burn effigies of both Rushdie and the Queen in protest. Even Pakistan's national government is getting involved. Pakistani Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Sher Afgan Khan Niazi told the National Assembly, "The 'sir' title from Britain for blasphemer Salman Rushdie has hurt the sentiments of the Muslims across the world. Every religion should be respected. I demand the British government immediately withdraw the title as it is creating religious hatred."

I'm sorry Mr. Niazi, but my respect is not granted causelessly. You want my respect, you better freaking earn it. When your Minister of Religious Affairs says that "If someone exploded a bomb on his body, he would be right to do so unless the British government apologizes and withdraws the 'sir' title", he is telling the world that you don't really want respect, you want fear. When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa that ordered Muslims around the world to kill Rushdie for the perceived injury that his words have done to Islam, that is also telling the world something. It says that the Ayatollah feared Rushdie's words so much that he was willing to resort to violent and terrorist tactics to try to silence the author. Please, Mr. Niazi, tell me how I can give my respect to someone who does not even respect the basic right to life of another person? How can I give my respect to someone who resorts to violence whenever he or she is insulted? How can I give my respect to someone who asserts that the mere existence of another person creates "religious hatred"? Have you no shame?!

Congratulations Sir Rushdie. I hope you live a peaceful and prolific life. And kudos to the U.K. -- for a country that is afraid to teach kids about the Holocaust because it fears offending holocaust deniers, I'm glad you've finally grown a bit of a backbone. I hope that in the future people all over the world will have the courage to fight, not for Queen and Country, but for Life and Liberty.