The Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) Controversy Continues to Grow
Salman Rushdie: He (Jon Stewart) Said He was Sorry it Upset Me, but Really, it was Plain that He was Fine with It
Apparently, Rushie talked to Jon Stewart to complain. Yusef Islam had publicly approved of the fatwa, issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, that called upon Muslims of good will to kill Rushdie for what he considered the blasphemous nature of "Satanic Verses." What transpired is quoted in Verum Serum:
"I spoke to Jon Stewart about Yusuf Islam's appearance. He said he was sorry it upset me, but really, it was plain that he was fine with it. Depressing."
One can only imagine what Jon Stewart would say if a Tea Party celebrity, say Sarah Palin, suggested that someone should be killed for blasphemy against Christianity. One suspects that he would not "be fine with it."
A lot of people remember Cat Stevens fondly as the singer of "Peace Train" (which he performed at the rally), "Moonshadow" and many other songs of love and peace in the 1970s and early 1980s. It is hard, therefore, to equate Cat Stevens with Yusef Islam, who while still an artist of considerable talent, wants to kill people out of religious frenzy. It's not just Salman Rusdie. Islam has said that he is agreeable to stoning women to death for adultery.
That last has no doubt broken the hearts of millions of women who grew up to the songs of Cat Stevens with the usual fantasies young women have for handsome, articulate pop stars.
Of course anyone has the right to go crazy, no matter how disappointing it is, though Islam bears watching in this era of terrorism. And Stewart has the right to use Yusef Islam as an act at his fake rally.
But no one is excused from advocating murder, nor is anyone excused from tacitly approving of that advocacy by using him as a music act.
Just as Islam is playing off of the peaceful Cat Stevens image, after years of eschewing music making as being contrary to Islam, Stewart is pretending to be the voice of reason on "The Daily Show," rolling his eyes at the foibles of the Right, smirking at carefully edited videos of people like George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, and all of his enemies at Fox News.
Jon Stewart also works for Comedy Central, which censored "South Park" for even mentioning the name of Mohammed, the Islamic prophet. His response to that was pretty mealy mouthed too.
The left gets away with this on a regular basis. It really is a "Wild World."
Source: Jon Stewart's Response to Salman Rushdie, Verum Serum, November 2nd, 2010
Published by Mark Whittington
Mark R. Whittington is a writer residing in Houston, Texas. He is the author of The Last Moonwalker, Children of Apollo, Dark Sanction, and Nocturne. He has written numerous articles, some for the Washington... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentAnd Cat who tolerates murder in name of his religion, is considered a socalled peaceful and moderate muslim,who got a peace price,what a bizarre world!!!
This report is bollocks. Anthing to make a good person sound bad. ridiculous.
Well Stevens has gone from amiable love child and singer of songs to advocating murder for daring to exercise free speech. The ONLY agent of change in this man is of course… the hate filled religion of Islam!
LOVE
ON A POSITIVE NOTE~We all LOVE Yusuf Islam and Jon Stewart~We all know the whole Rushdie thing was Rushdie Intentions were to ''CAUSE HARM''~anyone INtending to ''CAUSE HARM'' to another Religon,or anyone for that matter is ILL WILL and called EVIL and WE HAVE ZERO TOLORANCE to this,especially ''NOW A DAYS''~We are AWARE,AWAKE,RISING IN UNITY IN OUR LOVE TO HEAL HUMANITY~So why don't we all cometogether NOW and LOOK at the LOVE~ BEAUTY in all this, the POSITIVENESS in people coming together in the name of LOVE PEACE HARMONY~Our LOVE is STRONGER than fear~We WILL succeed to bring more PEACE~LOVE~LIGHT~UNITY~HARMONY to this world...and the negative people, full of fear will raise up and not like this....(AS shown)but the good new's is....''it's NOT to late for you to change your mind and HOPE SOMEDAY YOU WILL JOIN US ~AND THE WORLD WILL LIVE AS ONE~and we will live as ONE in a new world filled with~ LOVE~''GLIDE ON PEACE TRAIN HOLY ROLLER~''WE LOVE YOU''~Blessing's Peace~LOVE~Light~ :)
I forgot to say that you'd be well advised to crawl back under your rock!
So I guess you folks won't say "Welcome In"?? Poor hateful people here. *poof*
I love the irony of how this fear mongering is predicated in the eve of the "Rally To Restore Sanity". Who's message was to stop just such knee-jerk extreme responses to issues of media attention.
Sharia law is by no means a benign legal system; to the contrary, it is a malignant weapon that aids the pursuit of a global theocracy. The claim that the violence of Sharia law is Allahs Law destroys the legitimacy of Islam as a Religion of Peace.
Why all the hullaboo over what some Muslim said over 20 years ago?
Simple because he happened to be a Muslim!
Anyone remember the threats made by John Malkovitch to kill journalist Robert Fisk and shoot the then British parliamentarian George Galloway for their anti-Isrealiness...no didn't think so.