Cat Stevens & Marillion

It's like Michael Moore never happened!

Tell me what The Twin Towers have got to do with Cat Stevens (Yousouf Islam)?

Still nibbling on them Freedom Fries?

Before you go on about insulting the Good Ole US of A or yourself for that matter, tell me, how many times did Gerry Adams visit the States or does that not count in the Land Of The Free?

Free speech, however unpalatable, should be defended by all nations. There are many,many normal, peace-loving Muslims out there who, whilst not applauding those horrific actions on that terrible day, cant understand why it is alright for their peoples to be attacked and culture vilified by Americans but when the boot is on the other foot it somehow becomes more tragic.

 

Whilst agreeing about the pacifist paradox, I cant for the life of me understand what The USA Government is playing at. If they think that Cat Stevens is a threat to Western Civilisation (tm) it is no wonder that every redneck Yank has a Magnum under his pillow. What a bunch of lily-livered cowards! Defeat terrorism-that takes balls doesnt it?

I'll try to steer clear of contentious debate, for fear of offending anyone, but I'd like to share a few thoughts nevertheless. I've lead an extremely multi-cultural life since I left England in 1990. Having met a lot of people from all around the world it strikes me that the one thing we (mankind) trully have in common is a need to define ourselves in terms of 'who we are not'. Groups defined by the people they exclude.

The film "Independence Day" held one irrefutable truth. That being, that we will never really unite the human race untill we find another race of which we can all say "there's something different to all of us, therefore we are the same".

Having rejected the xenophobic monoculture that is (was) small-town-England, and being an ardent campaigner for racial equality, I was shocked to discover the extent of my own Englishness, thrown as it was, into sharp relief by the utter unenglishness of the people around me. Luckily, free-thinking intellectual parents had taught me long ago to love thy neighbour.

Interesting description in the linked article; "...British pop veterans Marillion,.." I'm not much of a neoprog fan, but not even I would go that far....NO WAIT! "Kayleigh", they deserve it for that alone!

Sadly enough,the fierce segregation attitudes of especially Asians from for instance Pakistan is alive and well in Norway too. There was a survey a couple of years ago where a newspaper asked men from Pakistan if they would allow their daughters to marry non muslim Norwegian men and all of them said it was out of the question. And they talk of racism and being victims of segregation! The incredible noise you can hear is the sound of glasshouses shattering...

How can Steve Hogarth claim that Cat Stevens is a pacifist? In the Salman Rushdie debacle,Cat Stevens was in favour of killing him. Now,correct me if I'm wrong,but a pacifist wanting to kill someone simply for writing a book has surely no right to call himself a pacifist anymore?!