Literature Suppressed on
Religious Grounds
Galileo Galilei
February 15, 1564 - January 8, 1642
Dialogue concerning the two
chief world systems
Nicolaus Copernicus
(building on work by Aristarchus of Samos ~ 200 B.C.)
16th century
On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies
Galileo Galilei
Dialogue concerning the
two chief world systems
Dialogue between:
Salviati - representing Galileo
Sagredo - an intelligent layman
Simplicio – an Aristotelian
Galileo Galilei
Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems
• Summoned before the Inquisition
• Charged with teaching and defending the Copernican
doctrine that holds that the Sun is at the center of the
universe and that the earth moves (a doctrine that had
been deemed heretical in 1616)
• Ordered to kneel while his sentence was read
• It was declared that he was “vehemently suspect of
heresy”.
• Galileo was made to recite and sign a formal abjuration
Galileo Galilei
Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems
“I have been judged vehemently suspect of heresy, that is, of
having held and believed that the sun in the centre of the
universe and immoveable, and that the earth is not at the
center of same, and that it does move. Wishing however, to
remove from the minds of your Eminences and all faithful
Christians this vehement suspicion reasonably conceived
against me, I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith,
I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally
all and every error, heresy, and sect contrary to the Holy
Catholic Church.”
Galileo Galilei
Dialogue concerning the two chief world systems
• Sentenced to house arrest
• Remained there the rest of his life
Ahmed Salman Rushdie (a.k.a. Sir Salman Rushdie)
(born June 19, 1947, Bombay [now Mumbai], India
The Satanic Verses
• Some adventures in the book depict a
character modeled on the Prophet
Muhammad
• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran
condemned the book and issued a fatwā
against Rushdie
• Bounty offered to anyone who would
execute Rushdie
Malala Yousafzai
(born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan)
spoke out publicly against the Taliban’s prohibition on
the education of girls
• When 11 years old gave speech at local press
club: “How Dare the Taliban Take Away My
Basic Right to Education?”
• speech was publicized throughout Pakistan
• Taliban shut down all girls’ schools in Swat
and blew up more than 100 of them
Malala Yousafzai
(born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan)
spoke out publicly against the Taliban’s prohibition on
the education of girls
• Became a blogger on BBC under an alias
• Made television appearances
• awarded Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace
Prize in 2011
• Shot in the head by a Taliban gunman while
she was en route home from school in 2012
Malala Yousafzai
(born July 12, 1997, Mingora, Swat Valley, Pakistan)
spoke out publicly against the Taliban’s prohibition
on the education of girls
• Taken to Britain for treatment
• Survived the assassination attempt
• Awarded United Nations Human Rights
Prize in 2013
• Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (jointly
with Kailash Satyarthi of India)
Hate speech?
Black’s Law Dictionary (17th ed.)
“Speech that carries no meaning other than
the expression of hatred for some group,
such as a particular race, esp. in
circumstances where the communication is
likely to provoke violence.”
Fighting words?
Black’s Law Dictionary (17th ed.)
1. Inflammatory speech that might not be
protected by the First Amendment’s freespeech guarantee because it might incite
a violent response.
2. Inflammatory speech that is pleadable in
mitigation – but not in defense – of a suit
for assault
Nigeria Counts 100 Deaths Over Danish Caricatures
By LYDIA POLGREEN
The violence linked to anger over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad has reignited old ethnic and political
tensions between Nigeria's Muslims and Christians. (New York Times February 24, 2006)
What do you think?