Tomryan:
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but from what I've read, Cat Stevens never supported the fatwah against Rushdie. He was asked by a reporter about the fatwah, and, from what I recollect, he responded that, if the Koran were interpreted strictly, then, yes, Rushdie would die. But then he added that he did not favor strict, fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran. His major mistake was that he didn't come out and explicitly say that he was opposed to the fatwah. The reporter took his comments and twisted them so that people interpreted them to mean that he did support the fatwah. Stevens did issue a few press releases to the contrary, but by then, there was such a furor over the story that his response went ignored. And the murder of the translators had nothing to do with his comments. It was a terrorist move by fundamentalists--something that this country is all too familiar with. I can't speak to the criticism of his charity, as I never heard anything about that. I will look into it further, though. And I can't blame him for not speaking up against the Taliban. He may be principled, but he's not stupid. Ever think of what happened to those who did speak up? Let's just say, they'll never be heard from again. I have my opinion, and I do admitre the guy. He made a bold decision at the height of his fame and threw away countless millions to follow his religious convictions. I wonder how many here would do that. Would you?
