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.
Just to respond to one point: Deb's late father, the wonderful Frank Zerad, was raised in southside Chicago by immigrant Czech parents who ran a small bakery. As I've noted, he spoke Czech before English. And they were *very* strict old-school Catholics.
Later in life, he spent more than a decade (with Deb's mother, Angie) as an International Executive Service Corps volunteer around the world — including many years in mainly Muslim countries, Indonesia and Egypt.
One of his strongest life views after all of this was tremendous suspicion of organized religion in general, as more often a source of division and tribalism than of the individual and civic virtues each religion was supposed to encourage.
Obviously every religion has both potentials; I'm just relaying his experience.
Thank you for sharing that experience! It is very meaningful that you trust us with your personal stories :)
They sound like wonderful people! I agree with you, that religion has both potentials so it is hard to generalize that all religion is bad. Following demagogues that only want more power is sometimes that only thing that religious sects offer.
Spirituality is a wonderful, healing, awesome experience for anyone. It is about compassion and the opposite of wanting everyone to worship the leader.
How is it that human nature turns something spiritual into a lust for power, a force for evil and division? Many books are written on this subject.
I did take a risk by writing such a long comment so thank you for your kind insight! I hope that it is ok to express myself in the comment section.
I assisted Executive Service Corps USA with fundraising for a time so I know it is a wonderful organization that helps many nonprofit causes.
I am sure that Angie and her family miss Frank very much, but what a wonderful couple they must have made! Very nice of you to share that with us, thanks!
Prayers for our friends' recovery, all the people affected in addition to the grievous injuries of Salman Rushdie and Mr. Reese.
This attack is emerging as a watershed moment in our world, coming as it did in the middle of a peaceful educational conference, showing the blind hatred of the killers who enabled this cowardly act, bringing us bolt upright in our chairs and shattering our precious summer calm.
For some of us, we fought this Good Fight all our lives. The moderator who was injured is certainly on that list.
For younger people coming up, be bold and do not fear because of this coward with a knife. Look instead at the integrity of the leaders of our time, from Henry Reese to Jim and Deb Fallows. That is courage.
The 60's generation showed us a lot of reason for optimism in the worst dark times. We brought down a corrupt president and stopped a corrupt war that killed 55,000 American kids and 2 million Vietnamese.
For younger people who want to change the world, remember that everything is possible and everything is really getting better, even though it can seem dark.
Our Towns is perhaps one of the best illustrations of optimism, of belief in the future, an organization led by the most talented organizers and optimists possible.
We all wondered how Mr. Rushdie will process this attack. We want to be there for him. Our process now is just overwhelming intense grief at the damage done, but a determination never to give in or up.
Thank you, Mr Fallows, for providing this forum for hearing your thoughts and for expressing our deep sorrow, about the idea that the haters chose as their target, someone whose talent they could never touch and never understand, not if they had a million million years.
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. " Prime Minister Winston Churchill's address to Harrow School on October 29, 1941
"The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds." Dalai Lama
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. Yes, the history and culture of Chautauqua make this even more horrific than it would be in any case. And, yes, the racist grocery-store massacre in Buffalo leaves a mark *forever* on many families and communities, and ebbs from the front pages because of the sequence of other gun massacres. I have nothing to say other than, I agree.
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.
Diana, thank you.
Just to respond to one point: Deb's late father, the wonderful Frank Zerad, was raised in southside Chicago by immigrant Czech parents who ran a small bakery. As I've noted, he spoke Czech before English. And they were *very* strict old-school Catholics.
Later in life, he spent more than a decade (with Deb's mother, Angie) as an International Executive Service Corps volunteer around the world — including many years in mainly Muslim countries, Indonesia and Egypt.
One of his strongest life views after all of this was tremendous suspicion of organized religion in general, as more often a source of division and tribalism than of the individual and civic virtues each religion was supposed to encourage.
Obviously every religion has both potentials; I'm just relaying his experience.
Thank you for sharing that experience! It is very meaningful that you trust us with your personal stories :)
They sound like wonderful people! I agree with you, that religion has both potentials so it is hard to generalize that all religion is bad. Following demagogues that only want more power is sometimes that only thing that religious sects offer.
Spirituality is a wonderful, healing, awesome experience for anyone. It is about compassion and the opposite of wanting everyone to worship the leader.
How is it that human nature turns something spiritual into a lust for power, a force for evil and division? Many books are written on this subject.
I did take a risk by writing such a long comment so thank you for your kind insight! I hope that it is ok to express myself in the comment section.
I assisted Executive Service Corps USA with fundraising for a time so I know it is a wonderful organization that helps many nonprofit causes.
I am sure that Angie and her family miss Frank very much, but what a wonderful couple they must have made! Very nice of you to share that with us, thanks!
Prayers for our friends' recovery, all the people affected in addition to the grievous injuries of Salman Rushdie and Mr. Reese.
This attack is emerging as a watershed moment in our world, coming as it did in the middle of a peaceful educational conference, showing the blind hatred of the killers who enabled this cowardly act, bringing us bolt upright in our chairs and shattering our precious summer calm.
For some of us, we fought this Good Fight all our lives. The moderator who was injured is certainly on that list.
For younger people coming up, be bold and do not fear because of this coward with a knife. Look instead at the integrity of the leaders of our time, from Henry Reese to Jim and Deb Fallows. That is courage.
The 60's generation showed us a lot of reason for optimism in the worst dark times. We brought down a corrupt president and stopped a corrupt war that killed 55,000 American kids and 2 million Vietnamese.
For younger people who want to change the world, remember that everything is possible and everything is really getting better, even though it can seem dark.
Our Towns is perhaps one of the best illustrations of optimism, of belief in the future, an organization led by the most talented organizers and optimists possible.
We all wondered how Mr. Rushdie will process this attack. We want to be there for him. Our process now is just overwhelming intense grief at the damage done, but a determination never to give in or up.
Thank you, Mr Fallows, for providing this forum for hearing your thoughts and for expressing our deep sorrow, about the idea that the haters chose as their target, someone whose talent they could never touch and never understand, not if they had a million million years.
"...this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. " Prime Minister Winston Churchill's address to Harrow School on October 29, 1941
"The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of all kinds." Dalai Lama
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
Thank you for urging readers to listen.
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/
Excellent point (about ordering from the bookstore). I will get that word around!
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. Yes, the history and culture of Chautauqua make this even more horrific than it would be in any case. And, yes, the racist grocery-store massacre in Buffalo leaves a mark *forever* on many families and communities, and ebbs from the front pages because of the sequence of other gun massacres. I have nothing to say other than, I agree.