Religious Leaders, "Ours" and "Theirs"

[womzilla]

Over on The Reality-Based Community (a very good leftist collective blog founded by law professor Mark Kleiman), Michael O'Hare discusses the Mohammed Cartoons.

I don't feel like discussing the cartoons or the reaction right now (Okay, one quickie: "Bush calls for end to cartoon violence" is one of the best headlines EVAR), but I had an amusing thought based on a comment O'Hare made:

[There have been] No western instructions from high in the Vatican or the rabbinate or Jerry Falwell or even Pat Robertson to all the faithful to seek out and kill anyone because we don't like his book so far, but Mr. Rushdie was hiding out from one for many years.

Khomeni condemned Rushdie to death because he thought that Rushdie was blaspheming against Islam.

Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez because he thought that Chavez was threatening America's oil wealth.

Doesn't that say a lot about them both?

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

There have been] No western instructions from high in the Vatican or the rabbinate or Jerry Falwell or even Pat Robertson to all the faithful to seek out and kill anyone because we don't like his book so far, but Mr. Rushdie was hiding out from one for many years.

So imagined evangelical attacks on doctors did I?

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Notice that O'Hare didn't say that no "Christian" leader had made statements calling for the death of enemies of the faith, just that (in recent years, anyway) it wasn't over books.

Moving from "death for a book" to "death for whatever reason" was my logical jump, not his.