Sunday, February 17, 2008
Iran Wants to Silence Geert Wilders
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/by Baron Bodissey
Iran is determined that Geert Wilders’ movie will never be publicly shown. According to the BBC:
The Iranian government has intervened to try to stop the screening of a film in the Netherlands about the Koran.
The Iranians say that the film, by the Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders, is offensive.
The Iranian justice minister, Gholam Hussein Elham, wrote to his Dutch counterpart, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, calling for a ban.
Mr Hussein Elham said freedom of speech should not be used as a cover for attacking moral and religious values.
So freedom of speech should never be used to… speak freely?
What should it be used for, then? Christmas decorations? A doorstop?
Geert Wilders is clear about what he’s trying to do with his movie:
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Mr Wilders says his film will show the Muslim holy book is an inspiration for murder.
But the Iranian justice minister says it is an unnecessary attack on what Muslims regard as the holiest of things.
There’s no contradiction here.
What Muslims regard as the holiest of things is also an inspiration for murder. In fact, inspiring murder is one of the primary purposes of the Koran. Murdering infidels is considered an Islamic obligation, in order to hasten the ascendancy of Islam over the entire planet.
But Iran sees the Devil at work:
He said the motivation behind the film was satanic and urged the Dutch government to stop its screening.
Mr Wilders has already been advised that he may have to leave the country for his own safety.
But the government has so far refused to intervene, saying the issue is one of freedom of expression.
We’ll see how long the government sticks to their guns. Their support for their own elected member of Parliament has been tepid at best.
Contrast the official Dutch response with the Danish government’s steadfast, vehement, repeated support for mere cartoonists and newspaper editors.
Perhaps the Danes could mount a mission to the Netherlands to give the Dutch a course in comprehensive spinal reconstruction.