Dutch MP Geert Wilders: Jackbooted by liberal fascist state apparatus for telling the truthThat's right. Persecuted for telling the truth.
(Emphasis mine)
Dutch MP Geert Wilders is being prosecuted in Holland for "inciting hatred and discrimination" and for insulting Muslims by comparing Islam to Nazism. But how can Muslims be offended with such a comparison when one of the most prominent 20th century Muslim scholars made a similar comparison?In his book Islamic Law and Constitution, Sheikh Abul Ala Maududi wrote: "It [Islamic State] seeks to mould every aspect of life and activity…In such a state no one can regard any field of his affairs as personal and private. Considered from this aspect, the Islamic State bears a kind of resemblance to the Fascist and Communist states."[1] Maududi’s characterization of the Muslim State was intended to be negative and was never challenged by any Muslim scholar or institution as inaccurate or unfair.
Robert Spencer discusses...
(Emphasis mine)...
So Wilders is facing criminal prosecution for “incitement to hatred and discrimination” as well as “the insult of Islamic worshippers.” If insulting someone is a crime, there is going to be an explosion of lawsuits in the Netherlands against ex-spouses and surly waiters – not to mention the fact that Wilders himself has a good case against his detractors, for all the hateful speech they have directed at him.
The very idea of trying someone for insulting someone else is absurd, and unmasks the Dutch initiative as an attempt by the nation’s political elites to silence one of their most formidable critics. The one who judges what is an actionable insult and what isn’t is the one who has the power to control the discourse – and that’s what the prosecution of Wilders is all about.
It was not always thus. Imagine if such laws had been in place in Britain during the time of William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898), who was Prime Minister of Great Britain four times: 1868–74, 1880–85, 1886 and 1892–94. He called the Qur’an an “accursed book” and once held it up during a session of Parliament, declaring: “So long as there is this book, there will be no peace in the world.”
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Churchill also warned that “were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science,” then “the civilisation of modern Europe might fall.” And now it might indeed fall, since the guardians of Europe have turned their attention to protecting Muslims in Europe from insult rather than dealing forthrightly with the elements of Islam that led Gladstone and Churchill to their conclusions – and these elements continue to exist. The text of the Qur’an and the teachings of Islam have not changed from the late 19th century to the early 21st. What has changed is the prevailing attitude toward the book. Now it has become a manifestation of bigotry and hatred to see in the Islamic holy book anything but peace and tolerance. But the text of the book and the teachings of the religion remain the same. If the Qur’an was an impediment to peace in Gladstone’s day, it is now. If it is an uplifting exhortation to peace and tolerance now, then it was in Gladstone’s day, as well.
Help Geert Wilders fight fascism. Sign the petition. At time of posting, over 23,000 from all across the world have signed the petition to free Mr. Wilders.
It is, after all, wrong to punish people for telling the truth!
If truth is punishable, then what will happen? People will lie instead of telling the truth!
