Hard-Headed Woman
When I heard about the Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam thing, I was pretty appalled by the Feds' actions. This is really hard, because I really like that man's music, and because he appears, on the surface, to be a "moderate" voice in Islam: something we want, presumably, to encourage. After all, he condemned 9/ll and the actions in Beslan in no uncertain terms.
But if he's given a lot of money to Hamas, he is funding terrorism, and we need to change the mind-set that makes a little killing of innocents here, a few suicide bombings there, okay as long as you mean well.
I love this guy; I can't help it. And I can't help but agree with James:
Truly bizarre. Surely, this guy isn't a sufficient threat to national security that they couldn't have waited until the plan got to Dulles to detain him.
But we need to stop the funding of groups like Hamas, and stop conferring respectability on those who transfer funds to them. I didn't buy Teaser and the Firecat on CD with the notion of killing innocent people.
And what we cannot have is a system in which celebrity confers a sort of immunity upon people, who can do whatever they like as long as they are famous.
I love some of what Islam does: starting schools and the like. But we just cannot welcome rich guys who fund terrorists coming and going as they please.
The whole thing is painful to me, though.
Now I've been cryin' lately, thinking about the world as it is,
Why must we go on hating; why can't we live in bliss?
Posted by: Attila at
01:53 PM
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1
I couldn't agree more. I like his music (when he was still Cat Stevens), but the tough of buying his albums when the money might be ending up in the hands of bus bombers makes me sick.
Posted by: The Pirate at September 23, 2004 07:45 AM (0ZKi5)
2
How strange that after writing those words he chose to join himself to the most hateful, death-obsessed, murderous psychopaths on the planet.
Posted by: James at September 24, 2004 05:37 AM (1YcTD)
3
Um...
...but the "schools" aren't really what we usually think of as schools (places of learning the 3R's, developing critical thinking skills, etc.). Some of that may occur, but they are really places where the students are steeped in the doctrines of hatred and prejudice, and come out with a horribly warped worldview.
Speaking of "Teaser and the Firecat", there is a song on there that is still capable of making me weep in the deepest part of my soul. "How Can I Tell You", was one of the theme songs of my first really serious relationship. It was a long-distance relationship, and it finally ended in much pain and emotional scarring. This story's got me thinking on it again...
Posted by: Desert Cat at September 24, 2004 02:52 PM (ilQMg)
4
I believe one of these schools was in London, and I doubt that it was that extreme. The ones in the Middle East are probably another matter.
But Hamas. And turning his back on music. And supporting the fatwa against Rushdie.
Wasn't "Father and Son" on
Teaser and the Firecat?
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 24, 2004 06:26 PM (SuJa4)
5
All the times that I cried,
Keepin' all the things I knew inside.
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them they know, not me
So there's a way, and I know that I have to go away.
I know, I have to go.
That one called out to me when I was a teenager.
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 25, 2004 03:26 AM (SuJa4)
6
everyone seems to assume he gave money to terrorists. easy to say but where the proof. govt throws people in jail with out trials or lawyers and no one seems to care. america is turning into a concentration camp.
Posted by: cliff at September 26, 2004 07:07 AM (92iDF)
7
Hi, Cliff.
1) It seems well established that Stevens/Islam gave money to Hamas. That is, it's appeared in a number of mainstream sources that employ fact-checkers and are not CBS. But you certainly have a point: it wouldn't hurt to do a little digging.
2) Are you referring to the detainees at Gitmo, or to the domestic cases?
3) How many calories did you consume yesterday? Get back to me when it dips below 2000, okay?
4) "Without" is one word. Thought you'd want to know.
Posted by: Attila Girl at September 26, 2004 01:40 PM (SuJa4)
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