A fit about Fitna

Friday Mar 28 2008

So... ' movie has been released on the internet. For those who don't know what it is: It's Wilders' anti- pamphlet in full-motion video. Geert Wilders is a right-wing politician from the Netherlands who has turned 'fighting Islam' into his very own personal crusade.

If you haven't seen the movie yet, I'm sure you'll find it on the various video sites on the internet. I'm not directly linking to it as I feel this would be some kind of support which I don't mean to provide. For those who haven't seen it, can't find it or just don't want to watch it, here's what's in the movie.

Fitna shows a series of hostile quotes from the with complementary video footage of various terror attacks such as 9/11, the Madrid bombings and the London bombings as well as some other things such as execution of gays and women, genital mutilation and fragments of hostile speeches from members of the Islamic clergy. The movie then ends with warnings about how it's important to stop Islam from 'taking over Europe' and especially the Netherlands. Finally, the movie starts AND finishes with the dreaded Danish cartoon picturing the prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped hat. Bringing that back again will surely piss people off.

Geert Wilders, creator of Fitna
Geert Wilders, right-wing populist politician and creator of 'Fitna'

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Nice job, captain obvious

The movie was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. It voices a populist train of thought that seeks a scapegoat for everything that's wrong in the Netherlands. As many of my regular readers will know, I don't like religion. I'm therefore not a fan of Islam at all. However, I equally dislike Christianity, Hinduism or the Church of Scientology. Well no that's not true. I dislike the Church of Scientology the most really.

A while ago, before Fitna was released and when people where speculating about what would be in it I was thinking about what I would do if I felt the urge to create an anti-religion movie, as opposed to an anti-Islam movie which isn't particularly fair because I rate all religions the same: modern fairy tales and make-belief that has somehow survived into the 21st century. I realised that at least the Quoran, the Bible and the Torah would contain plenty of hostile passages that could be illustrated with some disturbing video footage. Geert Wilders tries to point out that the Quoran is a hostile book. While I don't agree with this generalist statement, I do think it contains plenty of hostile passages. However, the same thing applies to the Bible and the Torah. Being hostile or intolerant towards other religions and / or non-believers such as myself is simply part of most religions, at least historically it is. Preaching hatred, creating an us-vs-them state of mind and a feeling of superiority are excellent means of keeping people tied to whatever religion they're a part of. However, just as it's the case with the hostility which can be found in the , most Muslims treat it exactly like Christians and Jews would: as something not to be taken literally or something to pretty much ignore.

A bit touchy, aren't we?

One thing that Fitna DID show is the fact that there are quite a few members of the Islamic clergy that are a tad touchy. Long before the movie was even released there have been protests in Pakistan and Afghanistan including burnings of the Dutch flag and death threats. How ridiculous is that? It wasn't even known what the movie's content was going to be and for all we knew there was still the possibility of the movie being a hoax. If it actually had been a hoax I would have considered a work of a mastermind as it would have been an excellent proof of how it's about time that religious leaders start ignoring those who don't agree with them. But no. The movie turned out to be real and in a certain way quite offensive.

While the movie most certainly stays within every inch of the Dutch law I would still feel quite offended by it if I were a Muslim. Not really because the movie contains offensive footage per-se but: because the movie considers each and every Muslim to be a dangerous, intolerant and power hungry monster with a terrorist nature. It's like calling all Germans nazis because the nazis once ruled their country. It's like calling all Christians hateful zealots because there are churches such as the Westboro Baptist Church which preach hatred. In short: It's a ridiculous right-wing pamphlet which very well may stir a lot of completely unnecessary problems.

Shedding a deep sigh

So what are we really looking at here? Once again the news (at least in Holland and to a lesser extend in the rest of the world) is dominated by quarrels about religion. The whole insulting or feeling insulted game is getting old... really, really old. What we're looking at really is the adult version of the kind of fit a 4-year old would throw when told that Santa Claus is an asshole. The only difference is that the adults have a bit more (fire)power than the 4-year olds.

As I said before, I'd love to see the day when humanity is freed from religion and all associated pro / contra propaganda and violence. It's about time humanity grows up and realise that Santa Claus really does not exist and there are more important things to worry about on this planet than ancient books.

As far as I'm concerned, mister Wilders has only shown to be an intolerant scaremonger with a xenophobic nature. He's managed to come up with something that would even have been seen as something pointless and stupid by post-9/11 America. No one there has come up with anything even remotely like Fitna. Sure, there are problems in the Netherlands relating to foreigners but they sure as hell don't have anything to do with Islam or the tiny fraction of Muslims with a terrorist nature.

So, as far as I'm concerned: Fitna has failed and Geert Wilders has failed to make any valid point. The only thing he's succeeded in is causing a lot of unnecessary problems which are with no doubt going to cost a lot of money and possibly even cause casualties. Way to go Geert. Way to go.

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