Evil over the past decade has been associated with two things: The Bush administration and its enemies; followers of the Islamic faith. In a recent interview in Interview magazine Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) one of the biggest pop stars of the late sixties and seventies made some interesting observations about the future of the world via the book of Revelations. Islam who converted to the religion of the same name almost 3 decades ago stated:
“There’s a common threat facing all of us—Christians, Jews, and Muslims—and it is the Antichrist. It’s a very deep subject, and it’s a horrendous thing to contemplate. Someone will appear who is, in fact, the opposite of what he appears to be. Some people will believe in him, and that’s really frightening”.
Although I’m not exactly big on the Bible I have watched enough apocalyptic themed cinema (i.e.: The Omen’s 1 through 3, The Seventh Sign etc.) and listened to enough Bob Marley and Peter Tosh to at least be scarcely aware that these are times of great tribulation. It seems that presently there are so many tragedies going on in the world such as the economy, swine flu pandemic and wars in the Middle East that according to sacred text we should be somewhat suspicious of any man wielding the flag of salvation. Is it possible that these texts, movies and music inspired by them have been written too well? I can recall vivid accounts of an aunt of mine reading them and becoming inconsolable afterward. I can also remember hearing my mother’s passionate rants that Ronald Wilson Reagan whose name mathematically emblazoned the numbers 666 was indeed the Antichrist. Since I never knew her to go to church except on occasion, these observations frankly seemed laughable.
Imagine the irony and utter shock if this fabled figure spoken of so many centuries ago presided over our current administration. I know I and many other black folk would probably be thinking ‘Damn! Why it always gotta’ be a black man!? Again, this concept seems laughable but should be noted because there is a great mass of people who want and need for him to be successful. History has unfortunately shown us that in times of great need and peril many of us have the tendency to act irrationally. Therefore, it would behoove us all to be critical as well as patient for progress to become a reality.
In the same interview Yusuf Islam when asked about his feelings about America; the same country that once denied him passage because he was suspected of being a terrorist said the following:
“America was my home for a very long time, and it’s a fascinating, pioneering country that many people look to. In the recent past it hasn’t been doing very well, but there’s a great new hope now with the election of Obama. America took a very big leap there and proved that it still has the edge as far as being able to do things many other countries may find difficult”.
What’s scary here is obvious or laughable depending on which side of the fence the observer happens to reside. I’m sure many republicans out there have already circled in red ink the text in question. The inspiring thing here is that even with a message as scary as Armageddon in mind Yusuf Islam was still able to suspend it long enough to consider hope in the present day. In the final part of his interview when asked about the difference between knowledge and wisdom he said:
“Knowledge is a thing you can carry around with you, but you may not apply it. Some knowledge is indiscriminate, and it can be damaging. I recently found a wonderful definition of wisdom: It is that thing which results in the maximum good and the least harm”.
Let us all hope, pray for and in our daily lives practice wisdom.
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