Dutch MP Geert Wilders was recently invited to the UK to show his film, Fitna, to the House of Lords. As some of you may be aware, Fitna is a highly provocative film that links the Koran to terrorism. Mr Wilders describes the Koran as a "fascist book" and has called for it to be banned.
However, the British Home Office has told him that he will not be allowed to enter the country on security grounds. The peer that invited him, Lord Pearson, has said that he disagrees with the call to ban the book, but that not allowing Mr. Wilders into the country is "appeasing violent Islam".
BBC NEWS | Politics | Dutch MP banned from entering UK
Interestingly, the Dutch Government has protested about one of its MPs being banned from Britain, yet at the same time Mr. Wilders faces prosecution by the Dutch Government for inciting hatred.
Here is a link to the Wiki page about Fitna...
Fitna (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...and below is the film itself. The full film is about 5 minutes longer but the last minutes deal with Dutch issues so for the sake of brevity I've used this shorter version.
Before you view the film, can I point out 3 things.
1. Every Muslim that I know is appalled at what violent Islam calls for.
2. Certain verses of the Koran do appear to be calling Muslims to persecute 'infidels', but there is plenty of inflammatory language in the Old Testament as well.
3. This film shows Eugene Armstrong being beheaded. It will be clear when this moment is coming. I had to close my eyes, but the audio is still disturbing.
[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QcDD6-7AN4U&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QcDD6-7AN4U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]
Simple question: Is the banning of Geert Wilders reasonable given that his film was clearly meant to shock, or is it an appalling restriction of freedom in a supposedly democratic country?
It would be nice if (for a change) people could restrict themselves to reasoned argument rather than just name calling. There is so little on this board that doesn't descend into name calling (right vs left, west vs. east, muslim vs non muslim) by the end of the first page, or even in many cases in the OP. The more it happens, the less I want to visit.
Sorry - I'm venting. It's a message board so of course you can all say what you like.
However, the British Home Office has told him that he will not be allowed to enter the country on security grounds. The peer that invited him, Lord Pearson, has said that he disagrees with the call to ban the book, but that not allowing Mr. Wilders into the country is "appeasing violent Islam".
BBC NEWS | Politics | Dutch MP banned from entering UK
Interestingly, the Dutch Government has protested about one of its MPs being banned from Britain, yet at the same time Mr. Wilders faces prosecution by the Dutch Government for inciting hatred.
Here is a link to the Wiki page about Fitna...
Fitna (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
...and below is the film itself. The full film is about 5 minutes longer but the last minutes deal with Dutch issues so for the sake of brevity I've used this shorter version.
Before you view the film, can I point out 3 things.
1. Every Muslim that I know is appalled at what violent Islam calls for.
2. Certain verses of the Koran do appear to be calling Muslims to persecute 'infidels', but there is plenty of inflammatory language in the Old Testament as well.
3. This film shows Eugene Armstrong being beheaded. It will be clear when this moment is coming. I had to close my eyes, but the audio is still disturbing.
[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QcDD6-7AN4U&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QcDD6-7AN4U&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]
Simple question: Is the banning of Geert Wilders reasonable given that his film was clearly meant to shock, or is it an appalling restriction of freedom in a supposedly democratic country?
It would be nice if (for a change) people could restrict themselves to reasoned argument rather than just name calling. There is so little on this board that doesn't descend into name calling (right vs left, west vs. east, muslim vs non muslim) by the end of the first page, or even in many cases in the OP. The more it happens, the less I want to visit.
Sorry - I'm venting. It's a message board so of course you can all say what you like.