#TIME » Salman Rushdie Says ‘I Stand With Charlie Hebdo’ After Paris Attack Comments Feed Five Best Ideas of the Day: January 7 New York City to Lift Ban on Students’ Cellphones in Schools alternate alternate TIME WordPress.com TIME Time.com MY ACCOUNT SIGN IN SIGN OUT SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE Home U.S. Politics World Business Tech Health Science Entertainment Newsfeed Living Sports History The TIME Vault Magazine Ideas Parents TIME Labs Money LIFE The Daily Cut Photography Videos TIME Shop The 100 Most Influential People The 25 Best Inventions of 2015 Future of Giving Know Right Now Next Generation Leaders Person of the Year 2015 Top 10 Everything of 2015 Top of the World A Year In Space Subscribe Newsletters Feedback Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights Terms of Use Ad Choices Ad Choices RSS TIME Apps TIME for Kids Advertising Reprints and Permissions Site Map Help Customer Service © 2016 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Paris Terror Attack MY ACCOUNT SIGN IN SIGN OUT SUBSCRIBE SUBSCRIBE MORE (BUTTON) U.S. Edition * U.S. Edition * Europe, Middle East and Africa Edition * Asia Edition * South Pacific Edition Paris Terror Attack Obama Says U.S. Will Stand With France Against ISIS More Paris Terror Attack Coverage What to Know About the Deadly ISIS vs. al-Qaeda Rivalry More Paris Terror Attack Coverage This Is Life Under a Terror Lockdown in Brussels More Paris Terror Attack Coverage The Cost of the Paris Attacks More Paris Terror Attack Coverage These 5 Facts Explain the Dire Economic Costs of the Paris Attacks More Paris Terror Attack Coverage A Dysfunctional Lebanon Fears That ISIS Will Strike Again More Paris Terror Attack Coverage Syrian Rebel Groups Fear Paris Attacks Will Take the Heat Off Assad More Paris Terror Attack Coverage What to Know About the Alleged Mastermind of the Paris Terrorist Attacks More Paris Terror Attack Coverage Key Republicans Call for Suspending Syrian Refugee Resettlements More Paris Terror Attack Coverage Read the CIA Director’s Thoughts on the Paris Attacks More Paris Terror Attack Coverage TIME World France Salman Rushdie Says ‘I Stand With Charlie Hebdo’ After Paris Attack * Nolan Feeney @NolanFeeney Jan. 7, 2015 SHARE The author has received death threats for his work Award-winning author Salman Rushdie, who once received death threats for portrayals of Islam in his work, expressed his support for the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo after an attack that killed at least 12 on Wednesday. “I stand with Charlie Hebdo, as we all must, to defend the art of satire, which has always been a force for liberty and against tyranny, dishonesty and stupidity,” he wrote in a statement posted by the Guardian. Gunmen killed at least 12 people in the paper’s offices before fleeing the scene in France’s deadliest terrorist attack in recent memory. “Religion, a medieval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms,” Rushie wrote. “This religious totalitarianism has caused a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam and we see the tragic consequences in Paris today.” In 1988, some conservative Muslims accused Rushdie’s fourth novel, The Satantic Verses, of blasphemy and insulting Islam. Rushdie received death threats and Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, then the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa for his death the following year. “‘Respect for religion’ has become a code phrase meaning ‘fear of religion,’” Rushdie wrote. “Religions, like all other ideas, deserve criticism, satire, and, yes, our fearless disrespect.” Read more: The Provocative History of the French Weekly Newspaper Charlie Hebdo Tap to read full story 0 0 Read Next Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com * Home * U.S. * Politics * World * Business * Tech * Health * Science * Entertainment * Newsfeed * Living * Ideas * Parents * Sports * History * The TIME Vault * Magazine * Subscribe * Give a Gift * TIME Shop * Newsletters * Customer Service * Site Map * Privacy Policy * Your California Privacy Rights * Terms of Use * Advertising * Ad Choices Ad Choices © 2016 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Powered by WordPress.com VIP [p?c1=2&c2=6035728&c3=&c4=&c5=&c6=&c15=&cv=2.0&cj=1]