Ayatollah Ali Khamenei renewed the fatwa against author Salman Rushdie last night. Though his blood may be spilled with impunity, I doubt Salman could wish for better publicity. Not that it has made his life easy.
This is one of those long standing quasi-religious, quasi-political things that I fail to see any logical reason for and merely chalk up to ideological idiocy. Like the Cuban Embargo, denouncing birth control, the royal family, etc…
Its somewhat unfortunate that the limited exposure I’ve had with Iranians has been those in academia because they aren’t able to paint a picture of Iran that differs much from the one I already have. I’m quite curious how normal citizens feel about this fatwa.