The West Should Applaud the Brave Geert Wilders for His Courage to Air the Film, Fitna, Against Great Odds, Pressure and Criticism

Ever since Geert Wilders released Fitna last week, all we have heard from the mainstream media and from politicians is criticism of the Netherlands’ best-known, most courageous, and clearest-thinking public figure.

So many people, spineless ones mainly, have said that Mr Wilders set out to insult the Qur’an and Muslims. What a ridiculous thing to say! Surely, what he set out to do is plain to see: He set out to inform the Dutch (and by extension , other Westerners) that they were in danger of losing their country (ies) to a backward, regressive ‘culture’: Islam. He stated categorically that this was the last chance for the Dutch to do something about the explosive growth of Islam in their country.

Now what is extreme about that? And what is "far-right" about it, as far as that goes? Yet Geert Wilders is almost always portrayed as a "far-right", "extreme" politician by just about all the media. Why? Just because he wants to warn his fellow countrymen of the dangers that lie ahead? Seems like good old-fashioned common sense to me. Patriotism, even!

I have been warning for years of the danger of the explosive growth of Islam in the West. And just in case anyone out there thinks that I entitled my book, The Dawning of a New Dark Age, for reasons of sensationalism, think again! That title was carefully chosen, for I truly believe that we are heading for a "New Dark Age" if our politicians do not stop passing ridiculous laws to mollycoddle Muslims. They need to change course, and quickly.

I have just finished reading Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone. Clearly, he has taken up the theme in my book; since he refers to the coming "New Dark Age" often enough in it. So I am obviously not alone in my judgement that a "New Dark Age" is dawning here in the West.

In the past days, it has come to light that many Muslim countries, that oh-so-Western country Turkey included, are calling for the film Fitna to be banned. Clearly, Muslims don’t want to be confronted by the truth, for obviously they are hurt by it. The truth, as they say, so often does hurt.

So what Muslims now want the West to do is close down freedom of speech and freedom of expression. If we do that, it will be a fast track to a "New Dark Age". It is freedom of expression which so clearly delineates our two worlds: the world of the West and the world of the East. Were our politicians to be so stupid as to contemplate such a move, then they will surely deserve to incur the wrath of the electorates around the Western world!

Like so may others, I waited patiently for the film, Fitna, to be released. We had to wait a long time for it, but it was well-worth the long wait. I had expected the movie to be controversial, and it was. But in actual fact, it wasn’t that controversial at all; on the contrary, I found the film to be rather mild and measured. There was very little in it which most of us haven’t seen before. But it was very cleverly put together, and the choice of music was superb. All in all, Fitna impressed; and it had a message which all Westerners should take the time to ponder, since so many Westerners go about their daily lives, oblivious of the dangers which lie ahead of them.

I take my hat off to Geert Wilders for a number of reasons: First and foremost among them is for his courage in stating the things which almost all other politicians are far too cowardly to state. I also applaud him for his clear thinking, and for his refusal to obfuscate the truth.

The images in the film were, in some ways, shocking; but only to the uninitiated. For people who are familiar with the blogosphere, they were mild indeed. But powerful for all that.

The Dutch government has egg on its face! Those politicians made such a fuss over the impending release of that short film that they showed themselves up to be the wimps they truly are.

Oh, and a point on Islamophobia, something which so many Muslim countries seem to view with increasing alarm…

As I have said before, the term ‘Islamophobia’ is a misnomer, since a phobia is an irrational fear of something. Many people fear Islam; but that fear, alas, is not ‘irrational’. People’s fears are based on solid experience and history. It is an undeniable fact that the intention of Islam is to take over the Western world, and replace our way of governance with the Islamic way. Given the track record of most Muslim countries, it is surely not phobic to fear the exceedingly fast growth of Islam here in the West. On the contrary, actually, it would be irrational not to fear that explosive growth!

Moreover, I should like to say this: If Muslims don’t want their religion to be feared, if they want to be liked and welcomed around the world, they have to change their behaviour. Governments cannot legislate for its people to ‘love’ Islam. Only Muslims can make themselves loved and welcomed; and to bring these changes about, then they need to change their own behaviour. They need to stop their inexorable programme of expansion around the world, they need to free up their peoples, and they need to stop the cruel punishments: the beheadings, the stonings to death, the amputations for theft - the general cruelty which is so obviously part and parcel of their way of life. And they certainly need to put a stop to putting people to death for apostasy.

The expression, "In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful", is found in almost every chapter (Surah) of Al-Qur’an al Kareem. Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to follow the example that Allah has supposedly given them? Isn’t it high time that Muslims started to show the same compassion and mercy that Allah supposedly shows His followers?

In summary, I would say this about Fitna. It was an excellent film, well worth waiting for. It was in no way insulting to Muslims; though I appreciate that many might have been hurt by it. But then, as I have already stated, the truth is usually hard to swallow. Nobody, Muslim or non-Muslim, likes to be confronted by the harsh realities of life. I applaud Geert Wilders for having the courage and bravery to raise issues in the Netherlands (and in the West) which should have been raised long ago. Bravo, Mr Wilders! Bravo!

©Mark Alexander

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