Comment on PJM, Roger Kimball"Yale & the Danish Cartoons: The Plot Thickens"

Is it possible for Ms Klausen to declare Yale in Breach of Contract and withdraw her book from YUP? Is there no other house out there willing to jump at a chance to take a book with built in publicity that promises to sell a quantum multiple of the usual scholarly text?

All the Islamists have is Other People's Money. They produce nothing. Soon improved power generation systems, think small nuke plants, and new production technologies will reinvigorate the West and relegate these barbarians back to obscurity.

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Terry Hughes,
Are you for real or are you a conservatives straw man parody of the anguished politically correct apologist for any assault on Western Civilization? Why any image of Muhammed was removed from any location is beyond my knowledge, and based on your hand waving use of the information the reason is beyond your knowledge also. Images of the bloody pederast were once added to many courthouses for three reasons.

1) 19th century Imperial display. We dominate all these people so let us display their symbols. A sort of historical zoo of anthropology. The Germans were intending to do that with the peoples they exterminated in WW-II.

2) As a hopeful gesture. Just as we often praise children not for what they have done but for what we want them to do we often are arrogant enough to choose positive images for people to relate to and then construct a story of their compatibility with our values that we hope everybody will accept. This rarely works. It breeds complacency and ignorance on the part of the dominant community while instilling resentment and contempt in the community being patronized.

3) Genuine ignorance and a fashion to feign erudition by seeking wisdom in distant places. This is similar to the current vogue among American jurists for citing the opinions of foreign courts when interpreting US law.

This does not mean that I deny the benefits of truly studying the works of philosophers and scholars from other cultures. When done properly they can be a source of inspiration and incisive commentary. For example I have no problem with any display featuring the Buddha or Confucious that precedes from a more serious impulse then the ones I gave above.

If an image of Muhammed was removed it was probably not done before 9-11 due to any respect for Moslem sensibilities. At least I would hope that any statement to that effect was issued as a throw away gesture. Images of the Butcher of Yathrib should be removed from the Temples of Justice because they do not belong there. He is unworthy of the honor.

My last comment form 3 hours ago is still in moderation. Hopefully this and that will be released.

Aug 15, 2009 - 11:06 pm

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The work of William Sloane Coffin at Yale has born fruit. Parasites always are surprised and angered when the host collapses beneath them.

Terry Hughes,
To pile on my point here. It is not the job of the Yale University Press to publish

an instrument advancing reason and tolerance among the people who one should most want to reach.

Nor is it their proper function to strenuously avoid being

excluded from internal debate among many more conservative Islamic people.

It is there job to publish scholarship and assist in the proper functioning of a research university community. That simple task, if properly performed, will produce an example of reason and tolerance, of civil discourse and intellectual productivity, that will shine like a light into dark places and invite those lost in ignorance to experience the benefits of Lux et Veritas.

Aug 15, 2009 - 11:42 pm