According to the Iranian Students News Agency, Sean Stone, son of Oscar winning film director Oliver Stone, hopes his conversion to Islam will help Americans understand more about the faith. The 27-year-old documentary maker became a Muslim on Tuesday during a ceremony in the Iranian city of Isfahan, adopting the Islamic name Ali.
Oliver Stone’s father was Jewish and his mother was a French-born Catholic. Sean Stone told AFP that he has not abandoned either Judaism or Christianity, the religions of his father and mother, respectively. Not sure how that’s done, but there you have it.
Ben Shapiro, of Big Hollywood, writes that “the 27-year-old Sean has long been a backer of genocidal anti-Semite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ‘Iran is ruled by law,’ explained Stone the Younger. ‘People don’t like Ahmadinejad, but that doesn’t warrant a war or an uprising.’
Shapiro continues that “it’s not surprising that the son of a virulently anti-American father would turn to Islam. But it just goes to show that the values espoused by Hollywood parents infect their children.”
But Oliver Stone’s kid doesn’t strike me as particularly infected, and I, personally, find it difficult to decide which spiritual tradition is more toxic, Islam or “Natural Born Killers.”
Stone Jr. came to Iran to produce a film about Rumi, the 13th century mystic Persian poet, and has plans to work with Iranian film producers.
“It’s a mistake to believe that Islam is antagonistic towards Judaism and Christianity,’ he told ISNA. “What we need is to understand each other’s beliefs and to establish dialogue.”
Believing his conversion to Islam would have little effect on his life back home, the new Muslim celebrity said he prays it would allow Americans better understanding of Islam.
“The most important thing is I hope I can help Americans to understand the true nature of Islam,” he said. “I feel good when I enter a mosque. I believe there is only one God and with this view it is not important whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jewish.”
Stone said the best Iran could do with regard to the tensions surrounding the country over its controversial nuclear program was not to look to the West.
“Pay attention to the east, and work with its partners like China.” he said. “Try to industrialize the country and bring life to its economy.”
OK, so the kid is no genius when it comes to international politics. But I applaud his decision to embrace monotheism, and I, for one, think you can’t have too many movies about 13th century Persian poets.