Yusuf at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear!

[downunder72]

Nov 18, 2010 16:46:38 GMT -5 peritura said:

There is a link to a really interesting article about the controversy over Yusuf's attendance at the rally on Yusuf's website:
www.tbd.com/articles/2010/11/should-jon-stewart-have-booked-cat-stevens-at-the-rally-to-restore-sanity--32297.html

Bringing Perituras fascinating post to everyones attention again. I may have interrupted the flow with my last post, sorry, I think Perituras article above is worth reading.

P.S EFHARISTO, (thankyou), Sun, Bud, and everyone.

[peacock]

Thanks for sharing that link, downunder. You're right, Rushdie does seem like a nice guy. I dunno what's up with his eyebrows though. They give him such an odd expression.

I don't see why it's a bad thing to talk about this controversy, even here. Especially here, where it's generally assumed we love Yusuf and want to believe only the best. And we also have the correct info, so we're not basing anything on dreadful misinformation. It's only natural that we have at least a small degree of cognitive dissonance about the whole affair. For me, this is just proof that the man who stole our hearts is really just a guy like anyone else, who makes mistakes - whether it's a matter of verbal slip-up or really a wrongheaded opinion he held at one point but has since recanted. I sure hope I'm never called to judgment on some of the boneheaded (and downright BAD) things I've said and done in my lifetime. Because I now think I'm very good, and so is he.

Print censorship has been a controversy for a long time - really, since print first began. Think of some of the recent books that have come under censure - Harry Potter, Golden Compass - by Christians. I guess nobody ever publicly said J.K. Rowling ought to be killed for inciting millions of children to idealize witchcraft and wizardry, but it wouldn't surprise me if some extremists did.

In Rowling's case, and certainly in many other cases, the controversy over their titles actually gave them extra publicity that they would not have otherwise, so it worked almost exclusively to their benefit. I wonder if some of that may not be the case for Rushdie as well. If not for the fatwa, how many people would even have heard of Satanic Verses?

As a writer, myself, I am very much anti-censorship, the most obvious reason being that most of the people who wish to ban a book have never cracked its cover and read so much as a page. If you don't like it, don't read it. But don't you dare tell me what I can't read.

On the other hand, I also try to keep in mind that my point of view is very American, and you can't judge people in other parts of the world by American standards.

[downunder72]

Peacock, so well said, so well written. Yes I agree, very high- brow, eyes piercing, you could even say satanic looking. ;D

[deniz]

Peritura thank you for the article.

Peacock you are right, extra publicity for rushdie.

If somebody still wants to write an article about this subject, i think he or she try to sell rushdie`s book. Or they still want to hurt Yusuf.

[peritura]

I thought it was interesting that Yusuf himself pointed visitors to his website to this article. It obviously resonated with him-and it is by no means a whitewash.
I think there are many reasons why people go back to this, one of them being the discord between what was said then and everything else Cat/Yusuf stood for before and after this event. I think the article gives a good psychological explanation of how it could have come to be.
I don't think Rushdie really needs any more publicity. I have not read the 'Satanic Verses', but I have read Midnight's Children and found it an excellent book, reminding me of the writing of Gunther Grass who I admire enormously.