http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/i-despise-islamism-ian-mcewan-faces-backlash-over-press-interview-852030.html

He defends fellow writer Martin Amis against racist charge and condemns
religious hardliners

The novelist Ian McEwan has launched an astonishingly strong attack on
Islamism, saying that he "despises" it and accusing it of "wanting to
create a society that I detest". His words, in an interview with an
Italian newspaper, could, in today's febrile legalistic climate, lay him
open to being investigated for a "hate crime".

In an interview with Guido Santevecchi, a London correspondent for
Corriere della Sera, the Booker-winning novelist said he rarely grants
interviews on controversial issues "because I have to be careful to
protect my privacy". But he said that he was glad to leap to the defence
of his old friend Martin Amis when the latter's attacks on Muslims
brought down charges of racism on his head. He made an exception of the
Islamic issue out of friendship to Amis, and because he shares the
latter's strong opinions.

"A dear friend had been called a racist," he said. "As soon as a writer
expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left
leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are
dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist.

"This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable. Martin is not a
racist. And I myself despise Islamism, because it wants to create a
society that I detest, based on religious belief, on a text, on lack of
freedom for women, intolerance towards homosexuality and so on – we know
it well."

McEwan – author of On Chesil Beach and the acclaimed Atonement and
Enduring Love – has spoken on the issue of Islamism before, telling The
New York Times last December: "All religions make very big claims about
the world, and it should be possible in an open society to dispute them.
It should be possible to say, 'I find some ideas in Islam questionable'
without being called a racist."

But his words in the Corriere interview are far stronger, although they
do fall short of the invective deployed by Martin Amis. He has said "the
Muslim community will have to suffer until it gets its house in order",
and told The Independent's columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Muslim, in
an open letter: "Islamism, in most of its manifestations, not only wants
to kill me – it wants to kill you."

McEwan's interviewer pointed out that there exist equally hard-line
schools of thought within Christianity, for example in the United
States. "I find them equally absurd," McEwan replied. "I don't like
these medieval visions of the world according to which God is coming to
save the faithful and to damn the others. But those American Christians
don't want to kill anyone in my city, that's the difference."

But McEwan's specific irritation is reserved for those who find
ideological grounds to condemn his and Amis's views. "When you ask a
novelist or a poet about his vision regarding an aspect of the world,
you don't get the response of a politician or a sociologist, but even if
you don't like what he says you have to accept it, you can't react with
defamation. Martin is not a racist, and neither am I."

Elsewhere in the interview McEwan serenely predicted the Balkanisation
of the United Kingdom. "Great Britain is an artificial construction of
three or four nations. I'm waiting for the Northern Irish to unite with
the Irish Republic sooner or later, and also Scotland could go its own
way and become independent."

Does the prospect disturb him? "No," he replied, "I think that at this
point we should start to reflect on Englishness: this is the country of
Shakespeare, of Milton, Newton, Darwin..."

On 22 Jun, 17:01, Steve Greene <stephen_gree...@hotmail.com.invalid>
wrote:
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/i-despise-islamism-ian...
>
> He defends fellow writer Martin Amis against racist charge and condemns
> religious hardliners
>
> The novelist Ian McEwan has launched an astonishingly strong attack on
> Islamism, saying that he "despises" it and accusing it of "wanting to
> create a society that I detest". His words, in an interview with an
> Italian newspaper, could, in today's febrile legalistic climate, lay him
> open to being investigated for a "hate crime".
>
> In an interview with Guido Santevecchi, a London correspondent for
> Corriere della Sera, the Booker-winning novelist said he rarely grants
> interviews on controversial issues "because I have to be careful to
> protect my privacy". But he said that he was glad to leap to the defence
> of his old friend Martin Amis when the latter's attacks on Muslims
> brought down charges of racism on his head. He made an exception of the
> Islamic issue out of friendship to Amis, and because he shares the
> latter's strong opinions.
>
> "A dear friend had been called a racist," he said. "As soon as a writer
> expresses an opinion against Islamism, immediately someone on the left
> leaps to his feet and claims that because the majority of Muslims are
> dark-skinned, he who criticises it is racist.
>
> "This is logically absurd and morally unacceptable. Martin is not a
> racist. And I myself despise Islamism, because it wants to create a
> society that I detest, based on religious belief, on a text, on lack of
> freedom for women, intolerance towards homosexuality and so on – we know
> it well."
>
> McEwan – author of On Chesil Beach and the acclaimed Atonement and
> Enduring Love – has spoken on the issue of Islamism before, telling The
> New York Times last December: "All religions make very big claims about
> the world, and it should be possible in an open society to dispute them.
> It should be possible to say, 'I find some ideas in Islam questionable'
> without being called a racist."
>
> But his words in the Corriere interview are far stronger, although they
> do fall short of the invective deployed by Martin Amis. He has said "the
> Muslim community will have to suffer until it gets its house in order",
> and told The Independent's columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Muslim, in
> an open letter: "Islamism, in most of its manifestations, not only wants
> to kill me – it wants to kill you."
>
> McEwan's interviewer pointed out that there exist equally hard-line
> schools of thought within Christianity, for example in the United
> States. "I find them equally absurd," McEwan replied. "I don't like
> these medieval visions of the world according to which God is coming to
> save the faithful and to damn the others. But those American Christians
> don't want to kill anyone in my city, that's the difference."
>
> But McEwan's specific irritation is reserved for those who find
> ideological grounds to condemn his and Amis's views. "When you ask a
> novelist or a poet about his vision regarding an aspect of the world,
> you don't get the response of a politician or a sociologist, but even if
> you don't like what he says you have to accept it, you can't react with
> defamation. Martin is not a racist, and neither am I."
>
> Elsewhere in the interview McEwan serenely predicted the Balkanisation
> of the United Kingdom. "Great Britain is an artificial construction of
> three or four nations. I'm waiting for the Northern Irish to unite with
> the Irish Republic sooner or later, and also Scotland could go its own
> way and become independent."
>
> Does the prospect disturb him? "No," he replied, "I think that at this
> point we should start to reflect on Englishness: this is the country of
> Shakespeare, of Milton, Newton, Darwin..."

I long thought of McEwan as overrated and very pc, and this outburst
does not cause me to change my mnd.

On 22 Jun, 17:01, Steve Greene <stephen_gree...@hotmail.com.invalid>
wrote:
> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/i-despise-islamism-ian...
>
> He defends fellow writer Martin Amis against racist charge and condemns
> religious hardliners
>
> The novelist Ian McEwan has launched an astonishingly strong attack on
> Islamism,

      It's not "astonishingly strong" to say you despise the idea of a
society based around fundamentalist religious law. It's a reasonable
point of view which the vast majority subscribe to.

> saying that he "despises" it and accusing it of "wanting to
> create a society that I detest". His words, in an interview with an
> Italian newspaper, could, in today's febrile legalistic climate,

      Febrile means "feverish". Can a climate of legalism be
"feverish"?

      Perhaps they mean "fragile".

> lay him
> open to being investigated for a "hate crime".

       No it couldn't.

> McEwan's interviewer pointed out that there exist equally hard-line
> schools of thought within Christianity, for example in the United
> States. "I find them equally absurd," McEwan replied. "I don't like
> these medieval visions of the world according to which God is coming to
> save the faithful and to damn the others. But those American Christians
> don't want to kill anyone in my city, that's the difference."
>
> But McEwan's specific irritation is reserved for those who find
> ideological grounds to condemn his and Amis's views. "When you ask a
> novelist or a poet about his vision regarding an aspect of the world,
> you don't get the response of a politician or a sociologist, but even if
> you don't like what he says you have to accept it, you can't react with
> defamation. Martin is not a racist, and neither am I."

> Elsewhere in the interview McEwan serenely predicted the Balkanisation
> of the United Kingdom.

      He predicts the violent break-up of the UK into warring states,
massacres, etc?

> "Great Britain is an artificial construction of
> three or four nations. I'm waiting for the Northern Irish to unite with
> the Irish Republic sooner or later, and also Scotland could go its own
> way and become independent."

       Oh, that's Balkanisation alright! A terrific article, from the
(as ever)  objective and dispassionate Independent, leaving all
personal distortion and spin aside as usual.