The Satanic Verses controversy so great as when it feels it has a god on its side." One of the lawyers involved, Geoffrey Robertson QC, rehearsed the arguments and replies made when 13 Muslim barristers had lodged a formal indictment against Rushdie for the crime of blasphemous libel: it was said that God was described in the book as "the Destroyer of Man", yet he is described as such in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation, especially of men who are unbelievers or enemies of the Jews; that the book contained criticisms of the prophet Abraham, yet the Islamic, Christian and Jewish
Nicolas Walter on Salman Rushdie and his book "The Satanic Verses", Walter (along with William McIlroy) re-formed The Committee Against Blasphemy Law. It issued a "Statement Against Blasphemy Law", signed by more than 200 public figures. Walter and Barbara Smoker were attacked while counter-demonstrating during a Muslim protest against the book in May 1989. Walter's book "Blasphemy Ancient and Modern" put the Rushdie controversy into historical context. Walter also served as company secretary of G. W. Foote & Co., publishers of "The Freethinker", and was a Vice-President of the National Secular Society. Walter occasionally wrote or spoke about how secular humanists might