Holland: Likely to Be the Next Target of Islamist Rage
PJM Groningen: Fear is in the air in Holland. The Dutch brace for massive rioting when a far-right member of parliament airs the film that he warns will include the Koran being "desecrated." Michael van der Galiën reports on the latest chapter of the conflict between freedom of speech and keeping the peace in Western Europe.
The Netherlands is in turmoil: far-right MP Geert Wilders has made a movie about Islam entitled “Forbidden,” which will be aired this week, either on television or on the Internet.
Talk about pre-release publicity: Wilders is promising that the movie will include the Koran being desecrated, possibly burned and torn apart in order to show that Islam is a “source of inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror[ism].”
He told Fox News that the movie will include “images and parts of real-time movies that really happen in the Netherlands and the U.K. and the Middle East, the intolerance of the Koran that is still alive and vivid today.”
If his point wasn’t strong enough, he added that “I believe our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic cultures” and warned that “The tsunami of Islamicization is coming to Europe.”
The Dutch government, led by Christian Democrats and Laborites, fears massive rioting and other disturbances when the film is made public. Already Muslim fundamentalists have started a campaign to prevent it from being aired. Young members of Hizb ut-Tahrir have spread pamphlets in several major cities in which they demand that people stop ‘insulting‘ Islam.
Or else.
The Dutch Muslim Council has warned the government: if the movie is broadcasted anywhere, riots are certain. “We fear for the worst,” stated the council. “The youths on the streets will have the last word. We can’t stop them”
The youth organization El Tawheed sent an open letter to the Dutch Parliament asking it to silence Wilder as strongly as possible. This particular organization ironically uses democratic freedom as an argument against the film.
In the letter, the organization contended that it’s better to “censor the movie in a democracy like the Netherlands, where the freedom of religion is a constitutional right” because the only aim of the film is to make Islam and the Koran look as bad as possible.
These individuals and groups, of course, conveniently overlook the fact that freedom of speech is a constitutional right as well – and that the freedom of religion doesn’t mean that someone can’t criticize your faith.
Freedom of religion means that you are free to believe what you want to believe, but the freedom of speech means that someone else is, then, free to criticize your religion.
Or not?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, no stranger to criticism of Islam herself, argues that Wilders should not air a movie whose sole and exclusive aim is to provoke and to insult – and she is right.
And yet, the response of the government has been troubling. They appear to have made insufficient effort behind the scenes to try to reason with Wilders – without opposing his freedom of speech and his right to say what he feels about Islam.
Unfortunately, however, the Dutch government has chosen to go public. They’re doing everything in their power to publicly prevent Wilders from airing or in other ways sharing his inflammatory opinions regarding Islam.
The Dutch Justice Ministry has already threatened to possibly prosecute Wilders for what he has said about the Koran, Islam and Muslim culture in the past (he compared it to “Mein Kampf” adding that it should be outlawed).
The government has also tried to stop Wilders by warning him. In a private meeting with Wilders Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, the official “made him aware of the risks for himself, his family and friends and for Dutch people in foreign countries.” The Prime Minister himself weighed in by saying that the controversy has already given Dutch Ministers and him “a headache.” “We have seen other crises but this is a substantial one,” PM Jan-Peter Balkenende told Dutch public television.
The situation has become so tense – and Wilders appears to be so determined to broadcast his anti-Islam movie – that the Dutch government has instructed its embassies in Muslim countries to prepare for riots and for quick evacuations of Dutch people living in those countries. Mayors of Dutch cities, meanwhile, have been told that they must prepare for riots and mass demonstrations.
Private companies have joined the cry to stop Wilders as well, fearing that his movie will cost them tremendously.
In short, the Netherlands is now on high alert: getting ready to deal with small scale civil war here and with massive riots in muslim countries.
And so, the clash between values (liberal values on the one hand, Islamic values on the other) continues. We will see what the results of this clash will be. As Westerners we can only hope that the more people ‘insult’ Islam, the more tolerant Muslims will become.
Perhaps Muslims must, quite simply, get used to the idea that people are free to say what they want about religion – including theirs. To accomplish that, however, Western governments must respond calmly and convincingly to cartoons, books and movies that criticize Islam. It means that they should try to make it as clear as possible that they stand by their citizens to express themselves as they see fit and that Muslims can get angry if they so desire, but that this won’t accomplish anything.
The Netherlands, like so many European countries, stands at a crossroads. Do we care more about liberal values or keeping an uncomfortable peace?
Buckle up ladies and gents, the next few weeks promise to be a bumpy ride.
Michael van der Galiën is the founder and editor-in-chief of PoliGazette and Chief Political Reviewer at Monsters and Critics. He can be contacted at mpfvandergalien@gmail.com
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38 Comments
1. Herr Morgenholz:The smaller the fire, the easier it is to put out. Wilders is trying to bring this to a head while the Netherlands is still marginally Dutch. Beats all hell out of waiting until it’s a majority muslim nation.
Jan 24, 2008 - 2:31 am 2. RE:The Dutch need to unequivocally demonstrate that they are just a little bit more offended by this muslim intimidation campaign – because that’s all this garbage is.
Jan 24, 2008 - 2:41 am 3. venividivici:As Westerners we can only hope that the more people ‘insult’ Islam, the more tolerant Muslims will become.
As a Westerner, I know what I hope happens, and it doesn’t involve Muslims becoming more tolerant. I hope that soon I don’t have to hear about Muslims’ “opinion” on anything, much less what they think of my analysis of their “religion”.
The Prime Minister himself weighed in by saying that the controversy has already given Dutch Ministers and him “a headache.”
Aww, poor baby! Stop being a crybaby and DO something about the fact that Muslims are setting the terms of discourse in your country.
Jan 24, 2008 - 3:53 am 4. Smarty:By Far-Right, does that mean he would be a John McCain or Chuck Hagel Republican, or an honest to God conservative?
But Kudos to him. The left will use any tactic to keep the march to Dhimmitude as comfortable as possible.
Jan 24, 2008 - 5:51 am 5. Jeb:First, the calls by some in the Muslim community to prevent the showing of Wilders movie (as offensive as it is) should of course not be heeded and those in the government the want to suppress the garbage that Wilders puts out should not be allowed to do so.
Now that’s just silly. There is only ~17% non-ethnic Dutch population in the Netherlands of which ~9% is not Western European and less than 6% of all of them Muslim.
So what do you hope happens? Do site rules prevent you from expressing what you hope happens?
Why the scare quotes around religion when used in reference to Islam?
More in the mold of David Duke, but with a different target.
Jan 24, 2008 - 7:31 am 6. Hotpatch 6:Let them riot. I am sure the Dutch police will handle the situation well. A pox on the Dutch Muslims -bloody Wogs, the lot of them.
Jan 24, 2008 - 8:46 am 7. mwl:European ‘youths’ need to learn that rioting is unacceptable, regardless of the provocation.
So let Wilders release his film, let them riot, and then let the Dutch police break some bones and arrest the lot of them. Repeat as necessary, until the lesson sinks in.
Jan 24, 2008 - 8:47 am 8. Ted G.:If the cowardly Dutch government capitulates to Islamic extremists, they deserve whatever comes.
The nerve of those fanatic muslims, who cry for the destruction of anything they do not approve, threatening the Dutch nation.
If the Dutch are unwilling, or incapable, of defending their nation, then let them disintegrate.
Jan 24, 2008 - 9:01 am 9. Abu Maryam:Hi,
Oh people wake up! You preach to us about tolerance and yet all of the comments and this article shows that none of you have any tolerance yourselves what so ever. You cannot demand tolerance from others and then not be tolerant yourself.
“As Westerners we can only hope that the more people ‘insult’ Islam, the more tolerant Muslims will become”
What rubbish is this? According to this logic, then maybe we muslims should insult western liberalism, and perhaps then you will become more tolerant!
“I believe our culture is much better than the retarded Islamic cultures”
Who are you trying to kid? Do i need to remind you that it was islam which brought to Europe the greatest scientific advancements and enlightenment through the glorious period of islamic spain, at a time when europe was in the dark ages! It is not Muslims who are raping, murdering, stealing, committing crime, it is your retarded liberal values! Finally, the freedom of speech is not the freedom to insult! You are deliberately trying to provoke Muslims so who are the ones who are creating the problems!
Jan 24, 2008 - 9:38 am 10. BMoon:Undoubtedly, the leftist facilitators of Islamic brutality will parade around their cliches by calling Wilders and Islam critics, “racist”(sic,) “bigots,” and most hilariously ironic, “intolerant,” while they help the Islamic thugs silence all critical inquiry and discussion of Islam by its opponents.
Where in The Onion when you really need their satire?
Jan 24, 2008 - 9:51 am 11. John King:I would like to view this movie produced by Mr. Wilder. Where can it be seen? Is there an English version that could be aired in the U.S.?
Jan 24, 2008 - 9:54 am 12. VforVendetta:Why isn’t the same logic used for the holocaust? Why is it a crime to question it?
Jan 24, 2008 - 10:17 am 13. DMIKE:I would like to see this film also in the US;
Freedom Of Speech!!! It sounds like a minimally controversial film. IF it was to be aired all over the world on every tv and in schools than it would be controversial.
Jan 24, 2008 - 10:29 am 14. tanstaafl:Ayaan Hirsi Ali, no stranger to criticism of Islam herself, argues that Wilders should not air a movie whose sole and exclusive aim is to provoke and to insult – and she is right.
Wilders’ film sounds different in intent than Hirsi Ali’s and Theo van Gogh’s Submission.
Many in Holland are (justifiably) exasperated but, it sounds like Wilders wants to be in your face for the sake of being in your face.
Jan 24, 2008 - 11:44 am 15. P. Ami:Abu Maryum,
You appear not to know the history if Islam, let alone liberal values. Muslims, including your prophet, raped and murdered plenty. The Muslim wars when Mohamed and his heirs stole the Levant from those who lived there for centuries were wars of force, full of killing, raping and theft.
If an insult is written, drawn or spoken then it is protected by the freedom of speech and freedom of press. These freedoms protect all forms of expession, even insulting ones. What is not protected is the right to destroy, injure, kill or steal. Muslims who can get used to that can have peace. The rest can go to hell and visit their murdering, rapist prophet.
Jan 24, 2008 - 1:35 pm 16. Joe American:Maryam,
Oh, Abu, wake up!
Freedom of speech is just that – the freedom to speak whatever one wants (within limits, no yelling ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater.)
You want to “insult western liberalism” be my guest. Why should I care what you think! Insult away.
“retarded liberal values” don’t commit murder, rape, and other crimes – people do! By the way, if rape is a crime, why is it that the person raped in an Islamic country is often the one punished instead of the actual rapist? Talk about the Dark Ages.
Person A says something that person B disagrees with so person B riots and murders people. Hmmmm, who created the bigger problem? Yeah, nuff said.
Oh, abu, wake up! You fool no one but yourself.
Jan 24, 2008 - 1:59 pm 17. mwl:Abu Maryam,
You appear to misunderstand what tolerance means. Tolerance requires only that we respect your right to believe whatever you like. It does not require that we respect your beliefs. Nor does it require us to accept your excuse of ‘provocation’ if you become violent.
Insult western liberalism as much as you like, as long as you do so nonviolently. Burn flags, flush Bibles down toilets, rant on message boards. No one will stop you. Not because we fear you, but because we respect your right to speak, even if what you say offends us.
But if you riot, or attempt to harm
Jan 24, 2008 - 2:39 pm 18. Kevin:anyone, then you alone are responsible for your actions. And you will suffer the penalty.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, no stranger to criticism of Islam herself, argues that Wilders should not air a movie whose sole and exclusive aim is to provoke and to insult – and she is right.
How do you NOT insult a group that is so easily insulted? After all she had to leave Holland, and the man who directed her movie was killed.
Jan 24, 2008 - 2:48 pm 19. venividivici:Tolerance. Islam and tolerance mix like water and oil. Just ask the Christians, Jews, and other non-muslims who leave the muslim nation just how well they were tolerated. Ask muslims imported to the ME to work for the oil barons just how well they were tolerated. Please. Tolerance and islam, now THAT is an oxymoron.
Jeb,
So what do you hope happens? Do site rules prevent you from expressing what you hope happens?
I hope we go to all-out war with these people, toe-to-toe, using everything we’ve got at our disposal. It’s what they want and they won’t stop until they get it, so I don’t see the point in waiting. Eventually, we’re going to want it, too, mark my words. I hope we win. I hope I get to participate. And I hope we do it while I’m young enough to enjoy the aftermath. I’d love 30 or 40 years of life without Islam. I’ll spit on their collective grave.
Why the scare quotes around religion when used in reference to Islam?
Because any “religion” whose entire raison-d’etre is “to dominate and not be dominated” in this world is not a religion at all, it’s a political movement. I see no reason to dignify Islam with any praise higher than I’d give to the Nazi party, i.e. none. Look at the Center for Political Islam’s statistics: nearly 300 million people killed in jihad warfare over the centuries.
Jan 24, 2008 - 3:26 pm 20. tanstaafl:It is not Muslims who are raping, murdering, stealing, committing crime…
Beg to differ.
http://thereligionofpeace.com/
Jan 24, 2008 - 4:26 pm 21. tanstaafl:How do you NOT insult a group that is so easily insulted?
Taking insult or complaints of insulting the Prophet or humiliating Islam are all part of the plan.
The rationale for justification of jihad.
Wilders’ film (as described) plays into that plan. It would seem to justify what have been, heretofore, bobbleheaded complaints from idiots with an agenda to dominate the politics of the “western” countries in which they’re living.
(As an aside, one wonders how and why Allah’s Truth should be so easily susceptible to insult. It should hardly need such a cadre of outraged and angry dissenters as today’s Islamists to “defend” it.)
Jan 24, 2008 - 4:42 pm 22. progressoverpeace:No. She is totally incorrect. We have a whole section of comedy that is about nothing but insults. As far as a movie being a “provocation”, it would take a hair-trigger to be provoked by such (to violence) and anyone or any group that has such a hair-trigger cannot be expected to live in a peaceful coexistence for any extended period of time, anyway, as some minor provocation (that normal, sane people would just brush off) would eventually drive the poor, offended muslims to inane violence. Maybe “The Three Little Pigs” story, as they are so worried about in England, or maybe something equally stupid.
Any country that allows its speech to be regulated by islam deserves what they get – and that’s pretty bad stuff.
Jan 24, 2008 - 5:13 pm 23. Ubu Roi:“There is only ~17% non-ethnic Dutch population in the Netherlands of which ~9% is not Western European and less than 6% of all of them Muslim.”
There are probably close to a million Muslims in the Netherlands at this time, over double the number that were there in 1990, and though they are a relatively small part of the population, their birthrates are very high. You are right that the likelihood of a majority Muslim population in the immediate future is far-fetched, but part of that diminished probability is due to the Dutch coming to their senses about immigration from Muslim countries.
Still the actual numbers to not reveal the tremendous problems with a million Muslims living in a small, secular country. They are not, by and large, acculturating, and a very large number are dangerous–openly hostile to the ideas of the Enlightenment, of which Holland was a major participant.
Jan 24, 2008 - 6:32 pm 24. Ubu Roi:“Do i need to remind you that it was islam which brought to Europe the greatest scientific advancements and enlightenment through the glorious period of islamic spain, at a time when europe was in the dark ages!”
Actually, this is absurdly overstated, the Enlightenment occurred well after the period in question, and has very few roots in Islamic soil. If you mean the Renaissance, you are equally mistaken. Though there is little doubt of the contributions of Cordova to the West, the sources of the Renaissance owe as much to Constantinople (another instance of irrational and unyielding Muslim aggression) as they do to Muslim scholars. Oh, and the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba was highly unorthodox by Muslim standards, benefited equally from the contributions of Christians and Jews, and was founded out of an aristocratic lineage from a brutal and bloody power struggle. And that regime was ultimately overthrown by the Muslim, jihadist lunatics who were invited in to help fight the Christians. In most instances, learning and real scholarship flourished in Muslim countries largely from a thoughtful ruler, whose power was great enough to subdue the clerics and religious nuts; where knowledge existed, it usually existed in places with highly developed intellectual traditions that were around well before the Arabs showed up, and under the patronage of a thoughtful ruler. In other words, ideas existed despite the best efforts of Islam.
But you wouldn’t know any of this unless you went to a good western university with a large western library. The Muslim world has been a cultural and intellectual backwater for centuries–no schools worth mentioning, no ideas, no literature (Mahfouz exempted, but then the lunatics tried to kill him), no art, nothing. The Muslim world is a simmering resentful failure, whose only export (beyond oil) is public tantrums, silly threats, wife beating, honor killing, suicide bombing and terrorist attacks. Islam is a bad farce, and it should be laughed off the historical stage.
Jan 24, 2008 - 6:56 pm 25. Little Much:abu,
Explain to us why Islam should NOT be challenged. Every other world religion is and has been challenged throughout the decades, what exactly is it that should exempt Islam from such challenge and examination? If Christians, Jews, Hindus can take it why not Muslims?
Enlighten us. If you can.
Jan 24, 2008 - 7:09 pm 26. venividivici:According to this logic, then maybe we muslims should insult western liberalism, and perhaps then you will become more tolerant!
Maybe you should insult Western liberalism? How about, you do insult it, every day. Day after day. So that I’m sick of this sound of your voice.
Who are you trying to kid? Do i need to remind you that it was islam which brought to Europe the greatest scientific advancements and enlightenment through the glorious period of islamic spain, at a time when europe was in the dark ages!
Oh, we’ve been “reminded”, again and again. Only one problem: you keep “reminding” us of something that isn’t true. That’s not “reminding”, that’s “brainwashing”. Just because you Muslims fell for the old “anything Mohammed says three times is true” trick, doesn’t mean that Westerners, with our finer sense for facts and truth (some of us anyway, some of us are as gullible as Muslims), don’t get persuaded of something simply because someone repeats it ad nauseam. Next, you’ll be telling us that Socrates was a Muslim.
Jan 24, 2008 - 7:35 pm 27. tanstaafl:…it would take a hair-trigger to be provoked by such (to violence) and anyone or any group that has such a hair-trigger cannot be expected to live in a peaceful coexistence for any extended period of time, anyway, as some minor provocation (that normal, sane people would just brush off) would eventually drive the poor, offended muslims to inane violence.
That’s actually the point. Keep Europeans on tenterhooks, in fear of outbursts and demonstrations, and have them live in a mild state of fear of giving “offense”.
Which kinds of tactics have, to some extent, been successful.
You’d be walking around wondering what package wrapper or operatic aria or words in a novel…or cartoons…might give “offense”.
Any time demands are acceded to or tacitly “met”, it is another chink in the armor for disruption of secular, democratic societies.
In the words of Amir Taheri, through such intimidation, Islamists in Europe are trying to effect”pre-emptive obedience”.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=%7B5EC03F38-63C0-4179-8FBB-3FDBC8203334%7D
Jan 25, 2008 - 6:37 am 28. Ahmed:His action will put hate in people’s heart for people of holland. He is ill minded. Wilders or anyone canNOT put ISLAM down cuz ISLAM is A PEACEFULLLLLLLLLLL religion.
Jan 25, 2008 - 9:05 am 29. Little Much:Ahmed,
Islam is not a peacefull religion. What the western world thinks of when we think of Islam is as the most savage fascist religion full of hatred for anyone who does not believe. It is a religion who stones its women to death. A religion who whips its rape victims. A religion who brainwashes its children to kill themselves. A religion who beheads journalists, korean charity workers and threatens their own people with death for having minds of their own. We see it as a religion who does not promote creativity, inventiveness, intellectual thoughts or pursuits outside the koran, equality for women, and which fills each new generation with unbridled hatred for other people. All this hatred does nothing for your Islam but make us distrust it further.
So Abu, THIS is the Islam you, as Muslims, have shown the entire rest of the world and none of it appears peacefull.
If Islam wants respect, Islam needs to show respect.
Jan 25, 2008 - 1:15 pm 30. golfluvr:I am so sick and tired of hearing religion of peace, then seeing terrorist bombings carried out by these peaceful people. Give me a break! Islam is not a peaceful religion, it is a guide to hate and murder. And tolerance? Islam has zero tolerance. Any time someone says something close to questionable, the muslims are out in full force to scream how they have been offended. Grow some thicker skin, and get on with your life!
Jan 25, 2008 - 1:20 pm 31. michael geoff:Freedom of speech gives me the right to say what I think. Freedom OF religion gives me the right to question any religion. What does that mean? That means if I want to question the Jewish, Christian, Hindu, or Muslim religion I can do so!
Oh God, Muslims vs Europeans. Two people who think too highly of themselves. I honestly don’t care if they eat each other. They’re both savages.
Jan 25, 2008 - 2:22 pm 32. progressoverpeace:Churchill said it best … in 1899 (The River War):
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science – the science against which it had vainly struggled – the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.
Some things never change.
Jan 25, 2008 - 4:16 pm 33. venividivici:and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science – the science against which it had vainly struggled – the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome.
One of the main problems today is that not enough scientists (broadly speaking) stand up and denounce Islam in the same way they denounce things like “intelligent design”. Islam is clearly wrong when it says “all the knowledge you need is found in the Koran”, yet Muslims clearly think that their religion gives them the ability to determine what is and isn’t science, based on both the Koran and their romanticized interpretation of the historical relationship of Islam and science. But, with the way trends are going, science is soon going to need sheltering from Islam.
To take a current example in the news this week, it’s pretty clear to me that scientists would not be able to try developing “man-made life” in a Muslim-dominated world. You can’t even paint a friggin’ picture in Wahabbi Islam because that’s a usurpation of Allah’s monopoly on creating.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/24/2123242
Many vaccines have pig-based ingredients in them. Are we going to stop developing vaccines because since the Middle East is so dry their religion had to outlaw the pig, which uses a lot of water?
This is the kind of stuff that worries me: the practical (and scientific) day-to-day retardation of progress that Islam causes wherever it takes hold. I believe all its airy-fairy myths about Allah are false, too, but I can live with those, so long as they keep them to themselves. I can’t (and won’t) live without vaccines because their imaginary god is offended by pigs.
Jan 26, 2008 - 6:24 am 34. lola:Geert Wilders is probably looking for shock value, but we do need people to stand up and defend the right to free speech and all our rights even if those rights offend others. He isn’t the best one to do it, but I hope this pushes the issue forward and becomes another wake-up call. How many more of these riots have to happen before governments start doing what they were voted in to do? That’s why there is riot police. To stop any rioters.
People are picking on you because instead of standing up to injustice amongst your own you quickly close ranks and act like nothing happened to protect that fragile “peace” (fear) you live with. Even though many are decent people like the rest of the world they let themselves intimidated into silence. Like we do. I hope more of this happens to bring this issue to an end.
Jan 26, 2008 - 12:19 pm 35. Louis Stouch:To the Muslims: Geert Wilders New Film- Why all the Fuss?
I am afraid you muslims (and others!)are all missing the point of this film thing.
The point is, why is the answer of islam to any criticism of islam always violence? What about the religion of peace?
The answer is, islam has no defense to these criticisms. They are plain old facts.
Let’s face up to those facts folks – the prophet Mo was a murderer and a thief and a (very well documented) pedophile. For those of you fresh from North Africa, a pedophile is a child molester.
So you have no defense to these criticisms, other than violence. And you thereby make Mr. Wilders point! Your islam is in fact violent and intolerant. Thank you, thank you very much. And the world awakens to the true nature of islam.
Now if you don’t like the facts as they are, I suggest you leave your religion. Ooops. You can’t do that, can you, not without a death sentence imposed by your co-religionists.
Well maybe its time to reform your “belief system” masquerading as a religion.
Jan 27, 2008 - 7:32 pm 36. tanstaafl:Mark Steyn in on “the Brits” latest foray into asininity.
…the pathologies of Islamism have proved surprisingly contagious among Western elites.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/islamic-anti-pigs-1967025-activity-islam
Jan 28, 2008 - 6:59 am 37. Michael Sinclair:The great irony, of course, is that the main point of the movie is that Islam is a religion of intolerance and violence – and any number of Muslims have predicted or threatened violence to keep him from releasing it, thus effectively proving his point. If Islam were the “religion of peace” that some people claim it is, then there would be no need to fear riots and murder.
As others have said countless times in the past, not EVERY Muslim is a violent sociopath just waiting to lash out and destroy everything that isn’t holy and pure, but there is most certainly a significant radical aspect to the religion that promotes and provokes violence. And that’s something that should definitely be addressed rather than ignored – because simply hiding under the bed and trying not to offend Muslims isn’t going to accomplish anything.
If releasing this movie forces us to accept the facts and address the issues, I’ll consider it to be a great success. If it simply leads to more rioting, some people getting killed, and then getting brushed under the carpet and forgotten like Theo van Gogh and the Jyllands-Posten cartoon, then I’ll continue to lose what little faith I have left in the human race as a viable species. And then patiently wait for the new Dark Age that our collective ignorance is going to plunge us into in the very near future.
Jan 28, 2008 - 10:45 am 38. Francis Kelly:The hope of all Goodly western folks and Mr. Wilders too is for a good old fashion JimmyHoffa TeaParty!!! To quote MelGibson as Wm Wallace “… are yah ready for a war !!??”
Jan 28, 2008 - 6:45 pm