It’s that book about Aisha again – the little tot that their marauding prophet took as his wife. The book, by Sherry Jones, is called The Jewel of Medina, which we’ve blogged about before (see all posts here).
The publisher whose home was firebombed by suspected Muslim extremists has now put the British publication of the book on hold, the Daily Mail tells us today.
The paper says:
Martin Rynja of Gibson Square books intended to publish The Jewel Of Medina by US writer Sherry Jones.
But following the attack on his London home, his plans are now said to be "in suspended animation".
Alan Jessop of Compass, the publisher's sales representative, said: "He [Rynja] is in good spirits, but has put publication in suspended animation while he reflects and takes advice on what the best foot forward is."
Free speech kicked in the cojones once more, eh? And in the name of some Dark Ages religion, too.
It’s not often I quote myself (in fact, I don't think I've done it before!), but it’s worth repeating what I said on a post back in August on this subject of how religion is able to dictate our freedoms of expression and speech:
What we have allowed into our world now is something very dark, very sinister, something that will, if we're not very careful, soon have us culturally hogtied, appealing – before we dare to publish a word – to some bloody fatwa committee of bearded, grizzled old men who wouldn't know a good piece of fiction if they ever reached far enough into the real world to take it down off the shelf.
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