what is the main idea of these two paragraphs [5] While the reputation of Muslims took a severe hit during the Rushdie Affair, as we reflect on this episode 25 later, it is Rushdie’s defense of freedom of expression that deserves more scrutiny. Rushdie and some of his more outspoken supporters adopted a fairly uncritical approach to freedom of expression, assuming at times that this freedom benefits all members of Western societies equally. But is this true? Not really. The supposedly free exchange of ideas and opinions, in fact, arises from individuals and communities who occupy unequal positions of power and privilege. More often than not, cultural and political elites have access to a pulpit from which they can preach their views and shape public opinion. Not everyone is so fortunate. [6] Rushdie was a member of Britain’s cultural elite. This had not always been the case. He was, after all, a child of two worlds, India and Britain, cursed with what he refers to in his memoir as a “double unbelonging.” But as a renowned author, he rubbed shoulders far more with the movers and shakers of Britain than with the country’s growing number of Muslims. His fame as an author gave him access to publishers and media outlets that enabled his voice to be heard and his views to be spread far and wide. Most Muslims in Britain, by contrast, occupied the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder. They lacked influence in the mainstream media as well as access to political power. Their voices, therefore, were often ignored or otherwise went unheard, and this reality undoubtedly fed their frustrations and influenced the forms their reactions took during the Rushdie Affair.