If you aren’t from the Netherlands, odds are you’ve never heard of Geert Wilders. In the fight against sectarian ideologies, Wilders is a bit of a wild card. While I applaud his efforts to combat the rising tide of irrationality and superstition in his country, this “champion of free speech” is the same man who wanted to ban the Koran. Let’s just say he’s a hard man to love.

He’s currently on trial for inciting hatred and discrimination against the Muslim religion and Moroccan immigrants. The judges overhearing his cases refused to allow Geert 15 of his 18 witnesses (which included the man who murdered Theo Van Gogh), arguing that fundamentalists would not adequately represent the religion.

Yeah, that sounds like a fucking fair trial to me. Be sure not to include anyone that actually takes their religion too seriously, otherwise you might frighten people!

I may not agree with everything that man has to say, but I can spot a bullshit trial when I see one. Hey, is anyone holding the fundamentalists accountable for inciting hatred of non-believers, honor killings, violence against women, and the host of other barbarities associated with this primitive faith? Why are the Dutch so afraid of someone speaking his mind?

It’s a frightening time to have a controversial opinion in Holland, it seems. Geert Wilder is the leader of the Party for Freedom, a political party which is extremely critical of Islam. He produced a film called Fitna, where he displayed verses of the Koran beside images of the attacks of 9/11, and was accused by Muslim groups of taking these passages out of context (this is the tactic most religious folks use to “explain away” the violent rhetoric of their holy books). Now, the Dutch government is putting Wilder on trial for “offending” Islam, and if convicted, he faces up to two years in jail.

This is what it’s come down to folks. Sure, not everyone agrees with the controversial things Wilder has to say, but keep in mind the man needs 24/7 protection from fundamentalists in his own country who would love nothing more than to slit his throat like a pig (peaceful religion, my ass). He’s highlighted the fact violence against homosexuals is on the rise, and almost entirely caused by Moroccan immigrants, a fact the government would rather ignore in favor of political correctness.

It’s entirely possible the values of Dutch society are incompatible with political Islam, and if that’s the case, he shouldn’t be jailed for voicing concerns a large portion of the population share. Are we to jail other similar figures who dislike and deride religion? Is Holland so weak it needs to punish those who find the rise of political Islam in the country frightening? Let’s not forget violence has been used in the past by radical Muslims to silence those who speak negatively of their religion. Does it not prove there is a serious problem here?

If I told you large groups of fundamentalists were threatening to commit acts of terror over the release of a simple movie criticizing Islam and the Qur’an, I’m sure none of you would be surprised. We take this kind of ridiculousness for granted now. You can’t release a cartoon, a book, or a documentary without fear of reprisal, and now, rather than only make threats at the authors of such works (which was already outrageous enough as it is), now an entire country is somehow responsible for the work of one of its citizens.

Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, recently made a movie critical of the Qur’an. The hoopla that’s followed was no surprise; however, the reaction of his own government is beginning to showcase a dangerous and frightening precedence. His own Prime Minister has tried to delay the release of the film, and the Ministry of Justice attempted to find ways of killing the project all together, to no avail. The government claims this is to protect the lives of its troops in Afghanistan, there on a peace mission.

It sounds almost reasonable, doesn’t it? Maybe they should censor this movie to prevent innocent lives from being lost. Maybe they should succumb to the intense political pressure coming from Iran, who threatened to review their diplomatic stance with the Netherlands, right?

No. Although I’m not in a habit of writing this sort of tirade, I have no choice but to use strong language in my response to quantify my anger and disappointment at the Dutch government for succumbing to this pressure. Fuck you. Honestly, if we allow ourselves to be bullied by fear, what else are we willing to sacrifice? Do any of you think defending your principles would be easy? Does anyone think there isn’t a war of ideology being instigated by fundamentalists? Who looks like they might be winning? Terrorists are willing to die for their convictions, however convoluted and stupid they are; and yet when faced with the same choice, we run in fear, and submit to their demands. It makes us look weak and scared. It makes the enemies of reason emboldened in their efforts to suppress our beliefs and our rights. It makes their terrorism work on us.