On Sean Stone’s conversion

I am not that much into celebrities but when Sean Stone, the son of Oliver Stone, converted to Islam it grabbed my attention: Why does the son of a famous American, and Jewish, left wing film director, convert to Islam? And not just any version of Islam, but Shi’ite Islam as practiced in Iran? Why didn’t he join his father and become a Buddhist as well?

I can’t pretend to know, since there are many appealing aspects to attract new members to any religion or system of faith. Judaism gives you weird facial hair, Christianity excels in providing sexual frustration while Buddhism is excellent excuse not to feel guilty about weight gain. Radical Islam for its part, particularly in Iran, has impressed many with its devotion to gay execution.

It’s kinda surprising why that could be appealing to the son of a big Hollywood director who happens to be an actor as well. One would assume Sean, or Ali as he is called now, has many homosexual colleagues whose view on government imposed lethal asphyxiation may be slightly less tolerant than his. Obviously, there is much more to Islam than only gay execution and one shouldn’t judge a religion by a practice which is both widespread and endorsed by its religious authorities. And anyway, if you are going to get hanged why not be gay?

One of the more uplifting and spiritual aspects of fundamentalist Islam which may have appealed to Sean Stone is the belief that world cannot be saved unless humanity exterminates the Jews. I admire people who put their ideals into practice, and what ideal can be more admirable than the desire to make the world a better place? Surely the death of 12 or 13 million Jews is a small price to pay for utopia. Or don’t you want a better world?

By the way, it’s not just the usual suspects from the earlier parts of the 20th century in Russia and Germany who have operated under this belief, but also our more radical leftist friends in the US and Europe today. Though they don’t necessarily wish to get blood on their hands they do believe in a world without borders as per John Lennon. That’s why they have decided Israel should be the first to go. It’s all very kind, a really great honor etc, and not very surprising amounts to instant death.

As a Jew, and I am sure Sean Stone as the child of a Jewish father can appreciate this as well, it is nice the Iranians are keeping the tradition of genocidal Jew hatred alive. Sadly, even though I am thrilled that our Islamist friends have high hopes for us, I am afraid it is all going to end in tears. Again.

You see -and I don’t mean to complain here or sound ungrateful- but none of the schemes which involve the mass killing of Jews in order to create a perfect society has worked very well up to now. Sure it is humbling to know expectations in Iran are so high, and I know you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. But eradicating the Jews has so far failed to provide the desired effect, though it really has been tried and tested by now. So I worry. What if Iran nukes Israel and the world does not turn into an egalitarian paradise? Can Sean’s Islamic faith survive the disappointment?

Of course defenders of Sean Stone would say that the Hadith which calls on Muslims to kill the Jews in order to bring about the day of Judgment is not referring to every single Jew on this planet. It is only bad Zionist Jews like you and me who must be exterminated while good anti-Zionist Jews are allowed to continue to spit on little girls for as long as they like. In addition, as the University of Gent in Belgium assures us: this massacre will occur sometime in the indefinite future. Which means that if we are lucky it will only be our children or grandchildren who will be murdered. So there really is nothing to worry about.

But what if we’re not lucky? Would a Buddhist Jew pass the selection?