Hating Islam
Filed under: Europe, Geert Wilders, Islam, Religion, The Netherlands — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on February 17, 2008 @ 5:26 pm CET
Frankly, right-wing politician Geert Wilders convicts himself by saying that he doesn’t “hate Muslims” but “Islam.” Whoever calls Wilders “excellent” shows that he or she, in this case, is a prejudiced, hateful human being who should never be in a position of power in any (Western) country.
Wilders added that “Islam is not a religion, it’s an ideology” and “the ideology of a retarded culture” at that.
Well, if we’re talking about retarded, I guess it’s safe to say that the one who is truly retarded is Wilders himself. Not a religion? Really? Does Wilders understand the definition of religion?
A religion is a set of beliefs and practices generally organized around supernatural and moral claims, and often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term “religion” refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.
Or:
1 a: the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion> b (1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2): commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices3archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
Shorter Wilders: I’m an idiot.
He could say “it’s not a religion I feel attracted to,” or “I think that Christianity is more peaceful,” or whatever, but he can’t possibly make the case that Islam is not a religion.
If we want to debate integration and the role Islam plays in the world and the West it seems to me that we should stick to the facts and not use mere rhetoric in an effort to insult the one another.
It’s also quite revealing that he says that he hates Islam. Not just dislikes. Not just disagrees with. But hate. That’s a very strong, and irrational, emotion. Many Dutch may not like the way Muslim immigrants have integrated, but they won’t say that they hate Islam simply because they do not hate any religion. That Wilders is this open about it means two things:
1. He truly hates Islam
2. He should never be part of any government coalition for we have seen what hate can make people do
1 A. A. B.
February 17, 2008 @ 6:58 pm CETThank you for that great article. Discussing and exposing Mr. wilders’ ideas in the right thing to do. Obviously, he sees Islam as one monolithic bloc, which he identifies with radical thought such as Wahhabism.
Mr. Wilders’ success has to do with the way many non-Muslim Dutch people perceive Islam though. In the Dutch media, I saw Muslim representatives asking for Mr. Wilders’ (still unpublished) moevie "about Islam" to be banned. I did not see any different opinions from Muslims.
Finally I decided to write an open letter to Mr. Wilders, defending his freedom of speech, while disagreeing with him in content. I also sent that letter to the major Dutch newspapers. As far as I know, none of them published it (though I couldn’t swear).
2 Michael van der Galien
February 17, 2008 @ 7:34 pm CETAAB: I fear you are right about that. Often newspapers do not want to publish columns of ‘moderate Muslims,’ simply because such Muslims don’t provide spectacular (read: clash of civilizations) headlines.
3 pacific_waters
February 18, 2008 @ 12:47 am CETHow about "I find Islam repugnant?"
4 David
February 19, 2008 @ 2:42 am CETadmin: religious bigotry is not welcome here
5 A. A. B.
February 19, 2008 @ 4:09 am CETDavid,
What would you say about non-Christians who claim radical, fanatical "Christian" cults to be Christianity period? If you don’t like that, you shouldn’t do that about Islam either.
The claim that Mohammed was pedophile exists in Ahadith recounted by a certain Hisham ibn Urwa. Mohammed’s cousin, early Islamic scholar Abdallah ibn Abbas already denounced him for spreading false ahadith, and one can see from other Ahadith that Aisha was at least about 15 years old.
Now it is interesting to see that pedophilia claims are accepted bothby fanatical madmen like the Irani regime (so that they can rape little girls themselves) and Islam-haters (to "prove" how evil Islam is according to you). Every time I read Islam bashing, it is obvious to me that it only works if you follow the same interpretations as extremists.
6 aaron
February 19, 2008 @ 4:26 am CETadmin: personal attacks and bigotry are not welcome here
7 Terry
February 19, 2008 @ 10:47 am CETThere are several muslim apostates who are now in hiding or on the run for criticizing islam and its teachings. Would you call them ‘anti-islamic’ bigots? What the hell is it with the secular progressives/socialists of today who are all of a sudden concened about hurt religious feelings, especially islamic ones? How does having a belief in social justice and peoples rights etc seem to come with a complete lack of common sense? Anyhow, keep taking the safe road and blame it all on GW Bush. He won’t send a hit squad after you.
8 A. A. B.
February 19, 2008 @ 12:41 pm CETMel,
Both Sharia courts an Jewish Batei Din function in the UK. Neither of them are recognized to act instead of the state’s laws made by parliament. Some Muslims are asking exactly for that. They want to handle things such as divorce and heritage not according to the same laws that are democratically established, respect human rights and are made for everyone, but by what the claim to be "eternal divine law". Obviously, there are lots of different versions of Sharia law, and in fact it was establish by medieval scholars.
I think it should be obvious that in democratic countries, law is made by the people or its elected representatives, not by religious leaders. That is why "introducing sharia courts" is something I strongly oppose.
As for your comparison with Judaism, you should learn the difference between ethnical slurs and attacks on religious doctrine and practice. Making racist statements against Jews and making racist statements against, let’s say, Turks, are equally evil and inacceptable. But critisizing religious belief and practice cannot be compared to that.
As a Muslim, I frequently critisize madmen in my own religion, and I don’t see why that should be a crime. The same is true in Judaism, where Liberal and Secular Jews don’t hesistate to speak out against Ultra-Orthodoxy. And as a Muslim, I want to be allowed to critisize, let’s say, sexism in Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and i think Liberal Jews should also be allowed to critisize sexism among some Muslims.
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