http://fp.ignatz.plus.com/thinskin.htm
A hypersensitivity to the word ‘pork’ might easily be dismissed as ludicrously self-regarding. There is, however, a rather more serious side to this cult of affected grievance. At a time when many scholars of Islam - including the German professor “Christoph Luxenberg” - have been forced to write under pseudonyms for fear of attracting death threats, it is worth bearing in mind the fate of Suliman Bashear, a Palestinian scholar at the University of Nablus. Using painfully moderate and scholarly language, Bashear argued that the Qur’an may have evolved over time, rather than being ‘revealed’ as a complete 400-page message from beyond. As a result of this “provocation”, Bashear was promptly thrown out of a second-story window by his “outraged” Muslim students. The message being sent by Bashear’s “punishment” is that even mild-mannered scholars should stay clear of certain topics. However carefully they speak and regardless of their motives, they may still find themselves being defenestrated by those who affect an implausible degree of indignation.
A hypersensitivity to the word ‘pork’ might easily be dismissed as ludicrously self-regarding. There is, however, a rather more serious side to this cult of affected grievance. At a time when many scholars of Islam - including the German professor “Christoph Luxenberg” - have been forced to write under pseudonyms for fear of attracting death threats, it is worth bearing in mind the fate of Suliman Bashear, a Palestinian scholar at the University of Nablus. Using painfully moderate and scholarly language, Bashear argued that the Qur’an may have evolved over time, rather than being ‘revealed’ as a complete 400-page message from beyond. As a result of this “provocation”, Bashear was promptly thrown out of a second-story window by his “outraged” Muslim students. The message being sent by Bashear’s “punishment” is that even mild-mannered scholars should stay clear of certain topics. However carefully they speak and regardless of their motives, they may still find themselves being defenestrated by those who affect an implausible degree of indignation.