LONDON, June 25, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Winston Marshall, a founding member of the folk-rock band Mumford & Sons, announced on Thursday that he was leaving the group because he refuses to “self-censor” in a face of lies.
After recounting tremendous memories he has shared with his beloved bandmates, the British banjoist and lead guitarist recalled “the hornets’ nest” that was triggered in March when he sent what he presumed to be an “innocuous” tweet to journalist Andy Ngo.
Ngo is author of the New York Times Bestseller Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy. According to one review, the book is a “riveting exposé of the background, structure and workings of the collectivist militant group, set on destroying capitalism and America’s history, culture, and institutions.”
“Congratulations @MrAndyNgo,” Marshall wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “Finally had the time to read your important book. You’re a brave man.”
The “cancel culture” Twitter mob became activated and in within a day the gesture elicited “tens of thousands of angry retweets and comments.”
“I failed to foresee that my commenting on a book critical of the Far-Left could be interpreted as approval of the equally abhorrent Far-Right,” he wrote.
“I’ve had plenty of abuse over the years. I’m a banjo player after all,” he quipped. “But this was another level. And, owing to our association, my friends, my bandmates, were getting it too. It took me more than a moment to understand how distressing this was for them.”
“Despite being four individuals we were, in the eyes of the public, a unity,” he explained. “The distress brought to them and their families that weekend I regret very much.”
As is normally the case with a “cancel culture” leftist mob, they demanded the band disenfranchise their long-time friend and colleague. With “courage,” however, Marshall’s bandmates, invited him to stay.
And as a gesture of prizing these close friends, he issued a public apology which he says, “predictably,” ignited another viral mob that hounded him “this time for the sin of apologising.”
After much reflection, Marshall explained, “The truth is that my commenting on a book that documents the extreme Far-Left and their activities is in no way an endorsement of the equally repugnant Far-Right. The truth is that reporting on extremism at the great risk of endangering oneself [as Ngo did] is unquestionably brave.”
And, as a result, Marshall felt compromised by his apology: “I also feel that my previous apology in a small way participates in the lie that such extremism does not exist, or worse, is a force for good.”
I’ve learned some journalists get to enjoy the prestige & legitimacy of institutional awards because they’ve never reported on something important enough to face suppression.
The path I chose in my work was paved by writers driven by the same bravery & integrity you’ve shown.
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 25, 2021
Citing an Aleksander Solzhenitsyn essay titled “Live Not By Lies,” the banjo player described why his integrity to be able to speak freely on matters of importance to him had to outweigh the great personal value of remaining in Mumford & Sons and doing what he loves with his good and close friends:
And he who is not sufficiently courageous to defend his soul — don’t let him be proud of his “progressive” views, and don’t let him boast that he is an academician or a people’s artist, a distinguished figure or a general. Let him say to himself: I am a part of the herd and a coward. It’s all the same to me as long as I’m fed and kept warm.
“The only way forward for me is to leave the band,” Marshall concluded. “I hope in distancing myself from them I am able to speak my mind without them suffering the consequences. I leave with love in my heart and I wish those three boys nothing but the best. I have no doubt that their stars will shine long into the future.”
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