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Sean Stone, the son of prominent U.S. filmmaker Oliver Stone, has converted to Islam while filming a documentary in Iran.
"The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with,” Sean told Agence France Presse.
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“It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets.
Sean’s father Oliver is Jewish, while his mother is Christian.
The Fars news agency of Iran reported that Sean, who underwent conversion in the city of Isfahan, chose to become a Shia Muslim (the faith that predominates in Iran) and will be known as Ali.
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Sean Stone’s conversion follows reports that Irish Catholic actor Liam Neeson may also convert to Islam.
The trend towards conversion to Islam has apparently been accelerating in recent years in the West.
This might seem like an odd development, given the relentlessly negative image that Western media has of Islam, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Neeson told The Sun newspaper that the thought of conversion came to him while making a film in Turkey.
"The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing,” he said.
"There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim."
He added: "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."
There are many reasons why a Western Christian might convert to Islam – some because they want to marry a Muslim person and wish to make such a union easier; others because they have a spiritual beckoning towards Islam.
Neeson would appear to be part of the latter group.
