Thank you for sharing these intimate thoughts with your readers.
How tragic that you have to write this column.
I think we all felt the same violence, the victimization, when we heard what happened. Our empathy for our brother, Salman Rushdie, is empathy for the innocence lost in all of us.
Those of us who fought The Good Fight all our lives, since college, we were inspired by those who went before. Midnight's Children and Rushdie's other books are marvels of literature but also reflect the deep yearning of our collective soul to understand human violence, human hatred, human suffering that causes the intense hatred of these violent movements.
Everyone should read the incredible works of this man whose bravery challenged the world of hate.
How ironic that, if we ever have visitors from outside our world, they will find that the biggest driver of violence and hatred is religion. How to understand that?
The problem is not the religion of the peacemakers like Buddha. It is the religious insanity of hate, of murder, of schooling young children into generations of hatred and murder.
It is the narcissism of power mad leaders who are not really human. They are the killers, the megalomaniacs who can never have enough. They are what Stephen King calls the low men, those without human morals.
This 24 year old killer was born in 1998. What in that experience turned him into a killer of a 75 year old world cultural giant? Where is the hatred passed on from, and why?
As we see the Jan 6 committee and DOJ following the same path as Watergate, we see the corruption of the human soul, how it is twisted into the lust for power at all costs. No matter the cost, even it means creating a 24 year old killer who follows an extreme version of religion.
The idea that a former American President could one of the low men defies our sense of reality. But this attack is all of one piece, it is a continuum from the extremists in the trump world to the extremists birthed in 1998 and raised in hate.
We are all Salman Rushdie, we all suffered those same wounds.
Aug 14, 2022·edited Aug 14, 2022Liked by James Fallows
Good morning, Jim and Deb... I had no words to share about this horrible incident until now (especially since a number of your other readers weighed in poignantly... and yes, thanks for encouraging us to listen to the initial response...).
However, I just watched your friend, Henry Reese, on "Reliable Sources" and was in awe of his reserve combined with thoughtfulness (to actually refuse to participate in the bloody tic-toc was refreshing...).
My thoughts today will be with him and, of course, with Salman Rushdie.
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Fallows. This is so horrifying. I live in Pittsburgh and the City of Asylum is one of our gems. We've attended many events there, and Henry is usually present, graciously '''working the room." When visitors to Pittsburgh ask what they should see while in town, I always mention City of Asylum, along with the Andy Warhol Museum (and tell them to skip Primanti's). It is just such a privilege to have City of Asylum in our area. If people are looking for some way to show support, might I suggest ordering books from the City of Asylum Bookstore? https://www.cityofasylumbooks.org/
It broke my heart to learn of Mr. Rushdie's grave injuries. It is even worse that he was attacked at Chatauqua, a beacon of intellectual life in western NY and a place traditionally where people have been free to express their ideas. I am taking it as a bad omen for times to come, where violence and hate intrude where we have enjoyed the freedom to create and sustain spaces where people are welcome to enjoy the speech protected by the First Amendment. I live in western NY and am still reeling from the egregious racist attack on innocent grocery shoppers in a Buffalo neighborhood. Now this. Where is America going, that the places where we traditionally have felt the safest are no longer safe?
Thank you for sharing these intimate thoughts with your readers.
How tragic that you have to write this column.
I think we all felt the same violence, the victimization, when we heard what happened. Our empathy for our brother, Salman Rushdie, is empathy for the innocence lost in all of us.
Those of us who fought The Good Fight all our lives, since college, we were inspired by those who went before. Midnight's Children and Rushdie's other books are marvels of literature but also reflect the deep yearning of our collective soul to understand human violence, human hatred, human suffering that causes the intense hatred of these violent movements.
Everyone should read the incredible works of this man whose bravery challenged the world of hate.
How ironic that, if we ever have visitors from outside our world, they will find that the biggest driver of violence and hatred is religion. How to understand that?
The problem is not the religion of the peacemakers like Buddha. It is the religious insanity of hate, of murder, of schooling young children into generations of hatred and murder.
It is the narcissism of power mad leaders who are not really human. They are the killers, the megalomaniacs who can never have enough. They are what Stephen King calls the low men, those without human morals.
This 24 year old killer was born in 1998. What in that experience turned him into a killer of a 75 year old world cultural giant? Where is the hatred passed on from, and why?
As we see the Jan 6 committee and DOJ following the same path as Watergate, we see the corruption of the human soul, how it is twisted into the lust for power at all costs. No matter the cost, even it means creating a 24 year old killer who follows an extreme version of religion.
The idea that a former American President could one of the low men defies our sense of reality. But this attack is all of one piece, it is a continuum from the extremists in the trump world to the extremists birthed in 1998 and raised in hate.
We are all Salman Rushdie, we all suffered those same wounds.
Good morning, Jim and Deb... I had no words to share about this horrible incident until now (especially since a number of your other readers weighed in poignantly... and yes, thanks for encouraging us to listen to the initial response...).
However, I just watched your friend, Henry Reese, on "Reliable Sources" and was in awe of his reserve combined with thoughtfulness (to actually refuse to participate in the bloody tic-toc was refreshing...).
My thoughts today will be with him and, of course, with Salman Rushdie.
Moving
Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Fallows. This is so horrifying. I live in Pittsburgh and the City of Asylum is one of our gems. We've attended many events there, and Henry is usually present, graciously '''working the room." When visitors to Pittsburgh ask what they should see while in town, I always mention City of Asylum, along with the Andy Warhol Museum (and tell them to skip Primanti's). It is just such a privilege to have City of Asylum in our area. If people are looking for some way to show support, might I suggest ordering books from the City of Asylum Bookstore? https://www.cityofasylumbooks.org/
It broke my heart to learn of Mr. Rushdie's grave injuries. It is even worse that he was attacked at Chatauqua, a beacon of intellectual life in western NY and a place traditionally where people have been free to express their ideas. I am taking it as a bad omen for times to come, where violence and hate intrude where we have enjoyed the freedom to create and sustain spaces where people are welcome to enjoy the speech protected by the First Amendment. I live in western NY and am still reeling from the egregious racist attack on innocent grocery shoppers in a Buffalo neighborhood. Now this. Where is America going, that the places where we traditionally have felt the safest are no longer safe?