Dear oh dear, stevenlmeyer's got it bad.

<< I have now watched that video a dozen times. It is beyond grotesque.

It is TERRIFYING. >>

I only watched it once, and I found Yusuf Islam's comments idiotic rather than terrifying, although as Pericles said it was in the context of a "Hypothetical".

Nobody's denied that he made some stupid statements 20 years ago as a new convert to Islam. The question is whether or not he should be permitted to visit Australia on the basis of that single incident. He's clearly modified his position in the intervening couple of decades, has broken no laws anywhere, and is hardly a preacher of hatred.

That some haters (the execrable Bolt included) want to utilise his visit as an opportunity to vent their fear and loathing of Islam and Muslims is perhaps unsurprising, but from my perspective their hyperbolic reaction shows them as the problem for Australia, rather than some old has-been singer who said something stupid a couple of decades ago.

Boazy - so you want Waleed Aly banned from the ABC because he apparently ridiculed the dingbat politician who blew the dog-whistle? Do you want Jon Faine banned too?

And there I was thinking you were an advocate of free speech.

WESTRALIS

Just to clear something up.

I posed the question:

"Should Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) be barred from Australia?"

My post was triggered by a report in the Herald Sun that State upper house MP Peter Kavanagh had suggested Stevens be refused a visa unless he met certain conditions,

My personal answer to my own question is, emphatically, NO.

I do NOT think Stevens should be denied a visa any more than I thought David Irving should be denied a visa. Freedom of expression is about ANYONE being allowed to have their say.

For the same reason I signed a petition protesting the attempt to silence David Hicks.

I find it an endless source of fascination that the same "progressives"
who can easily accommodate an Islamist publicly calling for the death of a blasphemer
condemn as Islamophobia any attempt to highlight the connection between Islam and barbarism.
Some of them would even try to shut you up, eh Foxy?
We can only guess which side they would be on if push came to shove,
but I think we already know.

Proxy
You are being disingenous again.

Would you like us to draw a contrast between Christianity and pedophilia just because a continuing bevy of priests continue to
molest children? In fact should we ban all Christian immigration in case they are pedophiles. It is that silly...

Criticising the actions of the man (if accusations are found to be true) should not immediately transfer to a whole religion.

What is progressive or new about inclusion and love? Christ was the first to practice it.

Put it down to a total lack of imagination on your part, Proxy.

>>I find it an endless source of fascination that the same "progressives" who can easily accommodate an Islamist publicly calling for the death of a blasphemer condemn as Islamophobia any attempt to highlight the connection between Islam and barbarism.<<

I guess that they might be of the same mind as those "progressives" who can accommodate the fact that Martin McGuinness went from second-in-command of the Provisional IRA, to Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

http://www.newstatesman.com/human-rights/2010/02/ireland-ira-believe-due-doing

Accepting that McGuinness is now a respected - and peaceful - politician does not require that you approve the murderous acts carried out in the 1970s by the Provos under McGuiness' command. You don't have to change your mind. You just have to open it a tiny fraction.

Unless, of course, like the few remaining rumps of IRA fanaticism, you regard McGuinness as a traitor to the cause, and continue to incite murder and mayhem at every opportunity.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/270860

http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3682

It's easy to see that Proxy is in favour of making sure that absolutely no progress is made, on any front, so that his fear and loathing may remain intact for as long as is humanly possible.

Sad, really.

Former IRA fantatics..now "respected" Politicians ? u are kidding Pericles right?

Firstly they BOMBED their way into parliament.. your English mob would never have even dreamt of raising these people to the level of respectability had they not targeted the Palace and/or 10 Downing street with bombs or mortars.

Give us a tiny weeensy bit of credit for at least some awarenes.

SECONDLY... the IRA was not founded on religious ideology but historical brutality carried out by Pericles ancestors and company as they defiled and raped the countryside for every bit of wealth they could scrounge from it.

CAT STEVENS has never bombed anyone.. but in the name of his correctly interpreted ideological basis.. many have.

WHICH...leads back to the ONE issue which PeriMorganOxyCan are all avoiding like the plague.

ie.. "ARE" Stevens outbursts based on a correctly interpreted Quran?

I'll leave others to explore that..but the blatant (not even veiled) bigotry of Pericles especially who "would not dream" of actually discussing 'comparative religion' (which, it just so happens, is the core point of this thread) makes that bigotry and prejudice even more visible.

I've provided a link to an Islamic Scholar.. to see IF...his views are cause for concern about the teaching of the faith.

I've not given Christian...or 'hate site' links.. nope.. only Islamic.
So.. if PeriMorganOxyCan were sincere in their desire to discuss the issue...they would actually look at it, and in good faith..discuss it.

I'm happy to be shown that my concerns are GROUNDLESS... but the 'GANGofFOUR' seem not to value 'discussion' as much as simply harassing people personally.. making groundless ad hominems.

I can only conclude they are closed minded and prejudiced to the degree of "lost cause"

PELLY.. did you see the link ? are you prepared to discuss the issue ?
surely you are not as prejudiced as PeriMorgOxy?