I’m outraged by the fact that McNally Robinson is choosing to not carry the upcoming issue of the Western Standard in which the cartoons that created a massive furor in Europe are being published.
The Star Phoenix (via Small Dead Animals);
The latest edition of the Western Standard will not reach magazine stands at any McNally Robinson Booksellers stores, owner Paul McNally confirmed Monday
And why not carry the magazine? Paul McNally elaborated further:
“We feel there is nothing to gain on the side of freedom of expression and much to lose on the side of hurting feelings…”
As Kate pointedly shows at her website, Mr. McNally doesn’t seem to have any qualms about carrying Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” – a book that resulted in a Fatwah being issued against Salman Rushdie after it was published because it was deemed so terrible by some Muslims. There was no Fatwah that I know of issued against any of the Danes who published the cartoons.
Perhaps Mr. McNally should step up his efforts to police the writings in his chain of book stores. One never knows when a Christian might be offended by an Athiest book that is absolute in its resolution that God doesn’t exist, or that Jesus never walked the earth. In fact, perhaps McNally Robinson should stop keeping a theology section all together – you know, in case people might not like some of the views presented in some of the material.
It gets better (not) as noted at the end of the article:
Indigo Books and Music Inc., Canada’s largest bookstore chain, is also refusing to put the latest issue of the Western Standard on its shelves. Indigo also owns Chapters and Coles bookstores.
And lest we forget, the cartoons were already published in Egypt in September, and they weren’t controversial then.
Freedom of expression is one of the most cherished freedoms we have in our society. Along with being able to freely express what we perceive and feel is important, we need to be tolerant of those who express things we don’t like or may not agree with. While I empathise with Muslims who were upset by the cartoons that were published – I have seen political/editorial cartoons in the past that have upset or offended me; we simply cannot allow some people’s dislike of a religious-themed cartoon to allow it to be censored from everyone. There have been religious-themed cartoons in the past, and there will be again in the future, but rioting is not a way to demonstrate disapproval of such things.
For my part, I am going to voice my displeasure with the hypocritcal censuring done by McNally Robinson with my wallet. I am going to return a book I bought at one of their stores a couple days ago, as well as a copy of the Western Standard I bought at the same time. I will be contacting the Western Standard to become a subscriber again, and in the future will not purchase books from McNally Robinson. I will also avoid Indigo, Chapters and Coles. I guess Amazon.ca will see a lot more business from me in the future. I wonder if I get a kickback if I refer myself? …