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Letter to Ms. Patty Smith at Amazon
Reader comment on item: Amazon.com's Koran Desecration Problem
Submitted by Mark E. Roberts (United States), May 21, 2005 at 00:02
Dear Ms. Smith,I appreciate your desire to satisfy customers, but I am deeply concerned--and my sense of justice is alarmed--by the overreaction of Amazon to the complaint of Azza Basarudin and the Muslim Public Affairs Council that her receipt of a used Koran with a handwritten offensive message in it requires Amazon to take the extraordinary steps it has taken.
Please do not go there, unless . . . you are willing to take exactly the same steps when a devout, even horridly "right-wing" Christian complains about receiving a used Bible or religious book with handwriting in it that deeply offends the purchaser; and ditto for an offended atheist, Buddhist, vegetarian, or raw-meat-eating African or Manhattanite, etc.
I too am a frequent Amazon.com customer, and I buy more used books than new. My only complaint about the amazing book-buying and -selling services of Amazon.com is that this response to the Basarudin-MPAC is, well, pusillanimous. It will begat further, even more ridiculous, demands; and these will lead, if Amazon responds similarly in the future, to truly unjust restrictions on free trade and free speech. Please do not walk any further down this path.
Our society cannot function when the standard of wrong is so finely tuned--and so lowered--that anyone's offense at another's written or oral expression requires the extraordinary response you with Amazon have made in this matter. Again, I commend your company's commitment to satisfying customers, but I know that you have gone too far, way too far, in this matter.
No doubt you have already received and read Daniel Pipes' comment on this incident; but just in case you haven't, I paste it below. I agree with him completely.
With all good wishes for you and for Amazon and its network of used-book suppliers,
Sincerely,
Mark E. Roberts, Ph.D. (Vanderbilt)
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".
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Reader comments (185) on this item
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Title | Commenter | Date | Thread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read your history, please... [392 words] | Neshobe | Feb 24, 2009 14:25 | 151078 | ||
| Whats your problem, everyone ?? [34 words] | Edward | Jan 23, 2009 11:10 | 148833 | ||
| I feel no sympathy for her [71 words] | pj | Apr 15, 2007 06:39 | 89306 | ||
| Amazon should read up on what is going on in Darfur [149 words] | Dr RJP | Feb 23, 2006 00:17 | 37429 | ||
 What about Darfur? Here is some journalist info [282 words] | JPM, B.S. in computer science | May 3, 2006 03:12 | 37429 | ||
| Profit over Principles [173 words] | Olle | Feb 8, 2006 22:24 | 34527 | ||
| You pays your money and Takes your chances. [24 words] | G. Edwin Jones | Aug 10, 2005 20:32 | 24557 | ||
| Don't exaggerate a tiny matter [75 words] | Billy Cardiq | Jun 24, 2005 01:47 | 22843 | ||
| Amazon's deliberate disregard of comments against capitulation [282 words] | FactsOfLife | Jun 19, 2005 23:58 | 22749 | ||
| Latest desecration or whatever [36 words] | Charles R.L. Power | Jun 17, 2005 10:13 | 22721 | ||
| The Koran problem & Amazon [79 words] | M Prins | Jun 4, 2005 23:50 | 22559 | ||
| More Koran Desecration - questions of FACT [180 words] | David | Jun 4, 2005 10:09 | 22554 | ||
| A letter To Ms. Smith [191 words] | Sam Luke | Jun 3, 2005 15:53 | 22547 | ||
| Putting things in perspective [351 words] | Harry Antonides | Jun 3, 2005 14:05 | 22544 | ||
| letter sent to Amazon [191 words] | Sam Luke | Jun 1, 2005 21:13 | 22525 | ||
| Response to: Zeph Sreele [178 words] | Ramsis Almasry | Jun 1, 2005 17:07 | 22522 | ||
| Amen! [9 words] | Jaladhi | Jun 1, 2005 14:43 | 22517 | ||
| Deja vu..........How many times have we been through this? [472 words] | Zeph Steele | May 31, 2005 13:59 | 22493 | ||
| Response to: Mark James [8 words] | Ramsis Almasry | May 31, 2005 10:57 | 22491 | ||
| Ms Basarudin can find help [92 words] | Gloria Stewart | May 31, 2005 10:41 | 22490 | ||
| Know thyself, Ms Stewart [110 words] | Robin Church | Sep 28, 2007 10:30 | 22490 | ||
| Amazon appears to be increasingly pro-Muslim, anti-Christian [315 words] | Mark James | May 31, 2005 00:05 | 22483 | ||
| Letter to Ms. Smith (Amazon) [170 words] | Deveri Johnson | May 30, 2005 23:32 | 22482 | ||
| Free speech [69 words] | Jeann Ward | May 29, 2005 12:40 | 22466 | ||
| Response to Doug Anderson's letter to Amazon [298 words] | Dvora | May 29, 2005 11:28 | 22465 | ||
| Storm in a teapot [148 words] | Bernard Ross | May 29, 2005 11:05 | 22464 | ||
| Letter to Amazon [414 words] | Eric Goodman | May 28, 2005 06:15 | 22457 | ||
| Another Setback On A Related Battlefront [413 words] | Yonason | May 27, 2005 15:07 | 22452 | ||
| Surrender of the West [149 words] | Mike Randall | Feb 12, 2006 12:40 | 22452 | ||
| Arabian "Smoke and Mirrors" [546 words] | Lou from Queens,NYC,USA | May 27, 2005 10:38 | 22447 | ||
| I can't believe this [63 words] | Patti Brill | May 27, 2005 07:23 | 22443 | ||
| HOW Muslims Desecrate the Koran [406 words] | Machira | May 26, 2005 15:41 | 22442 | ||
| Do/can Muslims Desecrate copies of the Koran? [108 words] | EdJustWondering | Jul 15, 2009 22:52 | 22442 | ||
| No fear. Stop the blackmail. Amazon response. [535 words] | Franco Spicciariello | May 26, 2005 13:10 | 22438 | ||
| A reply from Amazon [422 words] | Seth J. Frantzman | May 26, 2005 11:14 | 22436 | ||
| Hello Mr. Auster [254 words] | Alain Jean-Mairet | May 26, 2005 11:07 | 22435 | ||
| My response to the PC Amazon form letter [390 words] | Bob Hyland | May 25, 2005 13:13 | 22416 | ||
| Bravo to Maureen Cote [132 words] | Jaladhi | May 25, 2005 12:29 | 22412 | ||
| Alleged Allegation Against American Owned Book Distributor [900 words] | Dvora | May 25, 2005 08:44 | 22402 | ||
| More tolerance in Iraq [46 words] | R. Johnson | Jun 20, 2006 07:55 | 22402 | ||
| Nadir Ali is not Muslim, Lea Sullivan was not Christian [72 words] | Friend | Jan 6, 2008 23:35 | 22402 | ||
| 1 | please check your facts [75 words] | Another Friend | Oct 13, 2008 06:18 | 22402 | |
| You have no idea what you are talking about [80 words] | A True Friend | Aug 20, 2009 10:01 | 22402 | ||
| To Joyce Parker - Boycott-Amazon campaign [3 words] | Wallace | May 25, 2005 08:29 | 22401 | ||
| The Human Margin [301 words] | Doug Anderson | May 24, 2005 16:41 | 22379 | ||
| Response to Amazon.com's Response [165 words] | Janet Ann Suzuki | May 24, 2005 14:30 | 22376 | ||
| Disappointed by Amazon's response [204 words] | Perry Clark | May 24, 2005 14:10 | 22374 | ||
| My traditions are trampled upom [397 words] | Bernard | May 24, 2005 12:54 | 22372 | ||
| In response to Mr. Auster's comment [232 words] | Dan | May 24, 2005 12:37 | 22371 | ||
| Amazon's reaction [330 words] | Werner | May 24, 2005 12:01 | 22370 | ||
| Email to Amazon's Patty Smith [130 words] | Stewart W. Wilson | May 24, 2005 11:49 | 22369 | ||
| 1 | Which is worse -- a defaced Quran or a "defaced" person? [249 words] | Maureen Cote | May 24, 2005 10:50 | 22368 | |
| A public letter to Amazon [338 words] | Stuart Fagin | May 24, 2005 10:36 | 22367 | ||
| How many times has the Bible been desecrated? [187 words] | Octavio Johanson | May 24, 2005 10:21 | 22366 | ||
| Boycott-Amazon Campaign [31 words] | Joyce Parker | May 24, 2005 10:11 | 22365 | ||
| Response to commenter Noel [2 words] | biggie | May 24, 2005 09:33 | 22363 | ||
| Amazon runaround [480 words] | Patricia Ouimette | May 24, 2005 03:54 | 22360 | ||
| Agenda: special privileges [348 words] | Olivia M. | May 24, 2005 01:54 | 22359 | ||
| Koran at Borders [38 words] | Rick Bundschuh | May 24, 2005 00:52 | 22356 | ||
| Koran at Borders [119 words] | Mike Z | Apr 3, 2006 22:41 | 22356 | ||
| Re: Amazon.com's Koran Desecration Problem [97 words] | Ramsis Almasry | May 23, 2005 22:25 | 22355 | ||
| Amazon's Response [417 words] | Ari Bussel | May 23, 2005 20:41 | 22353 | ||
| Amazon.com's response [338 words] | George Conger | May 23, 2005 20:37 | 22352 | ||
| Pipes fails to see the radicalism of my proposals [1303 words] | Lawrence Auster | May 23, 2005 20:27 | 22350 | ||
| Feels violated again? [189 words] | Noel | May 23, 2005 16:39 | 22348 | ||
| Islamist Mindset [289 words] | A.A. | May 23, 2005 14:37 | 22347 | ||
| Amazon in Wonderland [79 words] | David Wolf | May 23, 2005 13:42 | 22345 | ||
| Koran "abuse" [117 words] | Lynn | May 23, 2005 12:44 | 22344 | ||
| re the "koran incident" [75 words] | Dan | May 23, 2005 12:28 | 22343 | ||
| Used Koran [105 words] | Rose Seidman | May 23, 2005 12:20 | 22342 | ||
| Can we verify credentials [104 words] | Albert J. Kirshen | May 23, 2005 10:45 | 22341 | ||
| Has everyone here lost their freakin' mind? [99 words] | Thomas Niksa | May 23, 2005 10:20 | 22340 | ||
| Tolerance [67 words] | babydeebie | May 23, 2005 10:04 | 22339 | ||
| Dhimmitude [65 words] | Mukesh Gupta | May 23, 2005 05:49 | 22335 | ||
| The real hatred is indelibly printed on the Koran's pages [116 words] | Domenico | May 23, 2005 03:46 | 22332 | ||
| My email to Ms. Smith [129 words] | Richard Ong | May 22, 2005 22:25 | 22327 | ||
| About Koran "desecration" affair: my message to Mrs. Smith of Amazon [146 words] | Vadim Levenson | May 22, 2005 21:57 | 22326 | ||
| More Islamic deception [20 words] | Darwin Barrett | May 22, 2005 20:59 | 22325 | ||
| Net Out Migration is only Solution [560 words] | Anthony | May 22, 2005 19:31 | 22323 | ||
| Total Agreement: Shame on Islam [43 words] | Cynthia Grenier | May 22, 2005 19:04 | 22322 | ||
| My note to Ms. Smith @ Amazon (a.k.a. wimp) [166 words] | Val Childs | May 22, 2005 18:58 | 22321 | ||
| Koran Desecration Problem [175 words] | Dr. M. D'Souza | May 22, 2005 17:57 | 22320 | ||
| Vandalism [174 words] | Yusuf Smith | May 22, 2005 17:20 | 22319 | ||
| How to reduce the numbers of Muslims in America and the West [310 words] | Lawrence Auster | May 22, 2005 16:19 | 22317 | ||
| Special Rights for Muslims -- What Next? [341 words] | Cassie logan | May 22, 2005 14:13 | 22316 | ||
| Bellweather's Qor'an [82 words] | Parvi R. | May 22, 2005 13:13 | 22315 | ||
| So what's new [82 words] | Ken De Vries | May 22, 2005 11:29 | 22314 | ||
| This is a preemptive warning from the islamists [197 words] | Arvind Madhavan | May 22, 2005 08:36 | 22313 | ||
| Some Questions and Concerns of Credibilty [63 words] | Seth Cervantes | May 22, 2005 08:06 | 22312 | ||
| Azza Basrudin's paper abstract (google search) [120 words] | J. | May 22, 2005 07:53 | 22311 | ||
| Nancy: My Thoughts Exactly [68 words] | Tziona | May 22, 2005 07:22 | 22310 | ||
| Mr. al-Ahmed's article in the WSJ [66 words] | Margaret McConnell | May 22, 2005 00:05 | 22306 | ||
| Letter to Amazon [74 words] | Bob Hyland | May 21, 2005 23:19 | 22304 | ||
| Koran fairytale [32 words] | Charles R.L. Power | May 21, 2005 22:55 | 22303 | ||
| Ridiculous Spin! [119 words] | Ada Evans | May 21, 2005 22:28 | 22302 | ||
| DANEGELD [66 words] | IVAN CHER | May 21, 2005 22:22 | 22301 | ||
| Weak Credibility [134 words] | Ellen | May 21, 2005 21:42 | 22300 | ||
| How to say this delicately? [82 words] | Liz | May 21, 2005 20:06 | 22298 | ||
| Koran Desecration Problem [233 words] | Howard Lucas | May 21, 2005 19:52 | 22297 | ||
| Letter to Amazon [84 words] | Marc Segan | May 21, 2005 19:16 | 22296 | ||
| Rule of Law is first, special privilage to any religion is Last [165 words] | Arun S | May 21, 2005 18:47 | 22295 | ||
| Re: response to Mr. Auster [115 words] | Janet Ann Suzuki | May 21, 2005 18:43 | 22294 | ||
| Another email to Amazon [112 words] | John Cadwallader | May 21, 2005 18:02 | 22293 | ||
| How convenient... [164 words] | Evelyn | May 21, 2005 17:44 | 22292 | ||
| Traumatized Azza [477 words] | Walter Manchur | May 21, 2005 17:38 | 22291 | ||
| Special treatment for all muslims and Saudis [196 words] | Ingrid Baumann | May 21, 2005 17:15 | 22289 | ||
| Which desecration are we talking about here? [145 words] | Ken Marrero | May 21, 2005 16:36 | 22288 | ||
| Koran desecration! [14 words] | S. Lubicz | May 21, 2005 14:46 | 22287 | ||
| Desecration of a Koran bppk! [88 words] | lubicz, Stephane | May 21, 2005 14:27 | 22286 | ||
| [Letter] Amazon's Mistreatment of Bellwether [166 words] | Jared Nuzzolillo | May 21, 2005 14:14 | 22285 | ||
| Comments to Amazon [147 words] | Arun Gupta | May 21, 2005 13:24 | 22284 | ||
| Goebbels Reincarnated by Moslems [61 words] | Irv Bradley | May 21, 2005 13:23 | 22283 | ||
| Desecration of Quran by non-believers [68 words] | Kamath | May 21, 2005 13:23 | 22282 | ||
| desecration of Quran [31 words] | Amer W. Atoum | Apr 9, 2006 03:46 | 22282 | ||
| Why tiptoe around piety? [59 words] | Laina Farhat-Holzman | May 21, 2005 13:12 | 22281 | ||
| The arrogance of MPAC [133 words] | Ira Born | May 21, 2005 13:05 | 22280 | ||
| Wake up, and smell the hypocrisy. [49 words] | Earl Mann | May 21, 2005 12:42 | 22279 | ||
| Do you think it is right to abuse any holy book? [142 words] | yahya noori | May 21, 2005 12:31 | 22278 | ||
| Shakedown advice reference Amazon and MPAC [285 words] | Mark James | May 21, 2005 12:25 | 22277 | ||
| Desecration [323 words] | John McClain | May 21, 2005 12:18 | 22276 | ||
| She also found a infidel finger in her chili [96 words] | Larry Lloyd | May 21, 2005 11:52 | 22275 | ||
| Extortion [56 words] | Martin C.Rosner,M.D. | May 21, 2005 11:44 | 22274 | ||
| Letter to Patty Smith [299 words] | Stephen Browne | May 21, 2005 11:19 | 22273 | ||
| I am suspending my Amazon shopping until YOU un-suspend Bellwether! [293 words] | E. Yellin | May 21, 2005 10:59 | 22271 | ||
| Faith vs Religion [156 words] | Michael Snee | May 21, 2005 09:49 | 22269 | ||
| Michael, row the boat ashore [148 words] | David | Jul 13, 2006 19:00 | 22269 | ||
| Is Amazon taking on the role of a new Inquisition? [291 words] | Peter Wolff | May 21, 2005 09:48 | 22268 | ||
| The Iranian Q'uran News Agency [52 words] | Joan Rakhshani | May 21, 2005 09:21 | 22267 | ||
| Out-migration [321 words] | Octavio Johanson | May 21, 2005 09:13 | 22266 | ||
| E-mail to Amazon [229 words] | Alan Forrester | May 21, 2005 09:06 | 22265 | ||
| Bellwether and Amazon should sue all involved in this extortion attempt. [10 words] | June | May 21, 2005 08:57 | 22264 | ||
| Note to Amazon: The "desecrated Koran" [60 words] | Larry Buchsbaum | May 21, 2005 08:43 | 22263 | ||
| Amazon.com's Koran Desecration Problem [108 words] | Dennis Goodman | May 21, 2005 07:14 | 22261 | ||
| The pot calling the kettle black! [160 words] | J. & E. Silk | May 21, 2005 03:28 | 22258 | ||
| The Real Problem [42 words] | William Burke | May 21, 2005 03:00 | 22257 | ||
| Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander [60 words] | Wally Anglesea | May 21, 2005 02:20 | 22256 | ||
| Letter of Support to Mr. Roberts of Bellwether Books [117 words] | Mark E. Roberts | May 21, 2005 00:05 | 22254 | ||
 Letter to Ms. Patty Smith at Amazon [302 words] | Mark E. Roberts | May 21, 2005 00:02 | 22253 | ||
| Just look into the book itself [34 words] | Werner | May 20, 2005 23:34 | 22252 | ||
| Azza Basarudin's trauma [125 words] | Walter Manchur | May 20, 2005 22:21 | 22251 | ||
| "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" [53 words] | Ephraim Lior | May 20, 2005 21:43 | 22249 | ||
| Re: Amazon.com's Koran desecration problem [225 words] | Steve Klein | May 20, 2005 21:41 | 22248 | ||
| Koran Abuse [54 words] | Glenn Portwood | May 20, 2005 21:24 | 22247 | ||
| Koran and Amazon [155 words] | Stephen Segal | May 20, 2005 20:22 | 22244 | ||
| Koran Defacement? [149 words] | Mark Roth | May 20, 2005 18:56 | 22243 | ||
| Hatered raises it's ugly head [290 words] | yonason | May 20, 2005 18:45 | 22242 | ||
| Cataloging Muslim outrages is necessary, but not sufficient [145 words] w/response from Daniel Pipes | Lawrence Auster | May 20, 2005 18:18 | 22241 | ||
| Responding to Amazon & the Koran Defacement case [310 words] | Mike Feldbush | May 20, 2005 18:10 | 22240 | ||
| Basarudin Koran incident [120 words] | Stanley Margulies | May 20, 2005 17:58 | 22239 | ||
| Koran "desecration" [108 words] | Gary D. Watson | May 20, 2005 17:33 | 22237 | ||
| msg to Ms Smith at Amazon [206 words] | Sandra Cianci | May 20, 2005 17:05 | 22235 | ||
| A Shakedown is Offensive & Criminal [330 words] | Paul Saunders | May 20, 2005 17:04 | 22234 | ||
| Koran Fflushing - anywhere ! [149 words] | Douglas Clark, Jr. | May 20, 2005 16:52 | 22233 | ||
| Disgust with CAIR/MPAC and Islam's Demands [102 words] | Kathy O'Leary | May 20, 2005 16:35 | 22231 | ||
| Attention! Attention! Muslim outraged at desecration of her Holy Book! [79 words] | Ralph C. Whaley MD | May 20, 2005 16:16 | 22230 | ||
| 1 | Wall Street Journal Article from Mr. Al Ahmed- Saudi Institute [754 words] | Allyson Rowen Taylor | May 20, 2005 15:01 | 22229 | |
| Kudos to Khaleel [149 words] | Allyson Rowen Taylor | May 20, 2005 14:57 | 22228 | ||
| MPAC and Amazon [34 words] | Mark Tyler | May 20, 2005 14:42 | 22227 | ||
| Letter to Patty Smith @ amazon [91 words] | ROBERT SHUMAN | May 20, 2005 14:34 | 22226 | ||
| Notes in a Koran [113 words] | Donald W. Bales | May 20, 2005 14:30 | 22225 | ||
| Koran [86 words] | Elisabet McGahey | May 20, 2005 14:03 | 22224 | ||
| My letter to Ms Smith [188 words] | Barry Locklear | May 20, 2005 14:00 | 22223 | ||
| Thank you [123 words] | Ruth | May 20, 2005 13:50 | 22222 | ||
| The Islamic paradox continues [61 words] | Brad Fisher | May 20, 2005 13:21 | 22221 | ||
| Response to Amazon's knee jerk reaction to Bellweather. [161 words] | Frances Black | May 20, 2005 13:00 | 22220 | ||
| CAIR and MPAC should apologize for what is in Quran [150 words] | N.K.. | May 20, 2005 12:56 | 22219 | ||
| Bellwether's Error [90 words] | Thomas Rekdal | May 20, 2005 12:51 | 22217 | ||
| Korans from Amazon [64 words] | Michael Almaz | May 20, 2005 12:45 | 22216 | ||
| MPAC [81 words] | E Ross | May 20, 2005 12:41 | 22215 | ||
| Mount of Olives cemetery [70 words] | Elaine Nugent | May 20, 2005 12:36 | 22214 | ||
| Koran Desecration Problem [189 words] | Chris | May 20, 2005 12:27 | 22213 | ||
| Very illuminating [18 words] | Phebe Intihar | May 20, 2005 12:24 | 22212 | ||
| On the used-book flap caused by a self-promoting opportunist [476 words] | Marion D S Dreyfus | May 20, 2005 12:22 | 22211 | ||
| Desecration only of concern when TO, not BY, Muslims [48 words] | Dave Weintraub | May 20, 2005 12:11 | 22210 | ||
| Another finger in the hamburger case ? [68 words] | Bernard Arkules | May 20, 2005 12:00 | 22209 | ||
| quranic desecration [240 words] | James Derry | May 20, 2005 11:49 | 22208 | ||
| Tawana Brawley Redux [44 words] | John Norris | May 20, 2005 11:48 | 22207 | ||
| Who publishes the Koran? [113 words] | Pat | May 20, 2005 11:41 | 22206 | ||
| Another Fraud? [75 words] | John | May 20, 2005 11:33 | 22205 | ||
| E-Mail to Amazon's P. Smith [128 words] | Bjorn Larsen | May 20, 2005 11:28 | 22204 | ||
| A comment to 'Amazon', see my email. [205 words] | Charles Hudson | May 20, 2005 11:03 | 22203 | ||
| Right on! [55 words] | Philip Perlmutter | May 20, 2005 10:51 | 22202 | ||
| Not Believable [52 words] | Nancy | May 20, 2005 10:31 | 22200 | ||
| Response to Nancy [77 words] | Mark | Feb 18, 2006 06:15 | 22200 | ||
| Amazon's apology over markings in a used Koran [140 words] | Chris Chrisman | May 20, 2005 10:25 | 22199 |
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