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The Spectacle Blog
Geert Wilders, the Dutch parliamentarian/filmmaker who is facing prosecution in the Netherlands and constant death threats for his criticism of Islam, spoke at the National Press Club today and took questions after a screening of his documentary Fitna.
Wilders, who was denied entry to the United Kingdom earlier this month because of his statements about Islam, has been touring the U.S. all week, with stops in Boston, New York City, and Washington. Yesterday, he screened his film in the U.S. Senate at the invitation of Sen. Jon Kyl, and he also met with John Bolton after the former U.N. ambassador's speech at CPAC.
In remarks at the Press Club this morning, Wilders said that his case was just a part of the broader struggle between Islamic radicalism and the West. Islamists, he said, use hate speech codes to silence criticism of Islam even while they themselves preach hate.
"They can say whatever they want, 'throw gays from apartment buildings, kill Jews, slaughter the infidel, destroy Israel, jihad against the West,' whatever their book tells them," Wilders said. "Ladies and gentleman, make no mistake, my prosecution is a full-fledged attack by the Left on the freedom of speech in order to appease Muslims."
The major culprit in all of this is the dominance of cultural relativism in Europe, according to Wilders.
"Cultural relativism is a serious and the most dangerous disease in Europe today," he said. "Most of our politicians in Europe believe that all cultures are equal. Well let me tell you, they are not. Our Western culture, based on Christianity, on Judaism, on Humanism, is in every aspect better than the Islamic culture."
He compared the struggle against Islamic ideology to the Cold War, and suggested the West needed to face up to reality, as Ronald Reagan did when he called the Soviet Union an "evil empire."
"You cannot runaway from history, you cannot escape the dangers of the ideologies that are out to destroy you," he said. "Denial is not an option. Islam is the communism of today."
Wilders' 17-minute film (which you can watch in its entirety here), shows passages excerpted from the Koran, and intercuts them with hateful sermons from Imams and images of terrorist acts committed by Islamic extremists. He has come under fire for the film as well as for public statements critical of Islam. And his critics have attacked him as hypocritical for calling for a ban of the Koran.
In his defense, he said that this had to be viewed in the Dutch context, a country in which Mein Kampf was banned 20 years ago. His point, he said, is that if that was banned as hateful speech that incited violence, than a similar standard should be applied to the Koran.
Wilders has also proposed that the Netherlands stop accepting new immigrants from Muslim countries becuase of the affect that the explosion of their population has had on the country, and to deport those who commit crimes.
If convicted, he could face up to two years in jail, but he has enlisted a top lawyer in the Netherlands and said he was confident that he would triumph.
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More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2009/02/27/mr-wilders-comes-to-washington
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Cat| 2.27.09 @ 1:04PM
Support Wilders. Fight against all that is evil. Scrutinize Islam ideology and fight against criminal ideology that is transpires all over Koran.
Us Politicians, please grow BALLS. DONT' YOU DARE ANGER LITTLE PEOPLE WITH YOUR DECISIONS AGAINST FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
JustMe| 2.27.09 @ 4:27PM
Geert Wilders is not a racist because he doesn't hate a race. He just don't like the islam because of al the know reasons.
Support Wilders! He can me a difference and so can you.
ruth| 2.27.09 @ 7:12PM
Wilders is courageous; he faces incredible danger. God bless him.
Bob| 2.28.09 @ 12:12PM
While I think the current manifestation of Islam is far worse than Christianity, all religions have their blind and hateful rhetoric. Consider this:
On the treatment of Non-Believers
"If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods . . . thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people . . . If thou shalt hear . . . Certain men . . . have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods . . . Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants ofthat city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword"(Deuteronomy 13:6-15).
On the rule of war and engagement
"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered [a city] into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: But the women, and the little ones . . . shalt thou take unto thyself . . . But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth"(Deuteronomy 20:13-16).
On the treatment of the enemy
"[W]hen the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance of them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord ..." (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
“And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both males, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men who were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go you forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city” (Ezekiel 9:5-7).
On the subjugation of women
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and sayunto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above, if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female, ten shekels" (Leviticus 27:1-7).
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" ; (1 Timothy 2:11-12).
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church" (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).
On the treatment of errant children
And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die" (Deuteronomy 21:20-21).
"For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death" (Mark 7:10).
"And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death" (Exodus 21:15).
"And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death (Exodus 21:17)."
On the treatment of fatties
And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague" (Numbers 11:32-33).
"The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel" (Psalms 78:31).
On the treatment of those that mock others appearance (the One-eyed Scottish Idiot Rule)
"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them" (2 Kings 2:23-24).
On engaging in sex during menstruation
"And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness; he hath discovered her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood: and both of them shall be cut off from among their people." (Leviticus 20:18).
On the rape of a female virgin
"If a man finds a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days" (Deuteronomy 22:28-29).
Personally, after reading the Quran, I think that Wilders film was accurate and do believe that some of Islam should be dealt with harshly. But then again, some of the rantings of the religious right should be dealt with in a similar, albeit not as harsh, fashion.
ruth| 2.28.09 @ 1:48PM
Last time I checked, none of my fellow Conservative Christians was flying numerous jetliners into buildings or beheading assorted liberals and RINOs. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, would frown upon this behavior. Some of us have progressed in the last several thousand years. Some of us.
shanghaicharlie| 3.1.09 @ 1:41AM
Bob, have you actually read the Bible? Or do you use a search program? Why atheist/lefties pretend to understand something beyond your ken is rather silly. Not so silly:
"But then again, some of the rantings of the religious right should be dealt with in a similar, albeit not as harsh, fashion."
You and your kind are very, very dangerous because you suffer the sin of Pride, are blinded by your own self-reflecting admiration, and you are legion.
ruth| 3.1.09 @ 2:56AM
I don't know, shanghaicharlie--(where the hell did you get that one?), I think wise ass Bob be messing with us. But I do hear ya on the pride deal.
Bob| 3.1.09 @ 9:31AM
Ruthie -- I be messing with you? You be da woman!
Charles| 3.1.09 @ 2:52PM
I have followed Mr Wilders for many years now. He is no hate mongerer or anything like that. If he is anything, he is a strong believer in democracy and the rule of law. Politically he is firmly embedded in the European tradition of (conservative) liberalisme. He does make a very strong case in regard of Islam. He does not hate muslims, or anybody of any belief or faith. The case Mr Wilders makes is that the Islam is more then just a religious faith. And in this he does have a point. The Islam also had build-in, a complete set of ready-to-use laws on every aspect of society (the shari'a) which clashes directly with western democracy. In Europe this problem is groing every year, with the continued influx of thousands of new muslim migrants. Mr Wilders request for the ban of the Koran is a SPECIFICALLY DUTCH PROBLEM. He has only talked about this in regard to the Netherlands. Why? Because in the Netherlands there has been a legal and political ban on Hitlers book Mein Kampf ('My struggle') sinds the seventies. This is the only book which is officially banned because of its vile racisme. Sadly, also the Quran has this problem, and, all in all, is probably EVEN WORSE then Hitlers book. In the Quran there are also pages upon pages in which Jihad ('Struggle') is called upon to follow by muslims. Anybody can look it up for himself. That is why Mr Wilders has argued the point of banning the Quran in the Netherlands. If Hitlers book is banned (which nobody reads anymore [in Muslim countries excepted], then the Quran should also be banned. IN THE NETHERLANDS.
ruth| 3.1.09 @ 7:24PM
How about NO BANNED BOOKS? Freedom; imagine the concept!!
Max| 3.2.09 @ 2:43PM
I agree that he should be able to say what he wants and I want a global First Amendment as well but what he said is complete crud. He didn't even recognize Islam as a religion, he said it was propaganda. Islam has it's founding in Abraham, just like Christianity and Judaism, how can he not recognize it as a religion? It's like when people in the US used to say that blacks were property, completely ridiculous. This vid talks about the situation with Wilders and how it is being covered in different countries, http://www.newsy.com/videos/free_speech_or_hate_speech/
ruth| 3.3.09 @ 2:26AM
I understand his passion, though, his country is under assault. He's just trying to push back.