Wilders Rising.

Is anyone planning on seeing Geert Wilders next instalment of anti-Islam sentiment, “Islam Rising?” I couldn't stomach his previous film Fitna for more than about five minute as the images were too harrowing. I might try this one however because it reflects the increasing fears in Europe that levels of Muslim immigration and higher than average birth rates, when set against Europe’s own shrinking population, is leading to a dominant Muslim culture.

There is increasing fear that this population change will mean that historic European democracy; tolerance, and liberalism will be wiped out by a religious culture that does not hold to the same values. There is indeed a demographic change happening in Europe and too many Muslims are not accepting modern democratic liberal values. How we respond to this will have huge consequences for European cohesion.

This is not a fear motivated by discrimination, but it can be exploited to create hostility towards Muslim immigrants and their families. Maverick Dutch politician Geert Wilders is doing exactly this with his films “Fitna” and “Islam Rising,” which represents Islam as inherently violent, anti-democratic, anti- women, and in fact anti-most-things European. 

Wilders’ believes that “there is no such thing as moderate Islam.” For him Islam has a dominating and violent theological objective and Muslims who do not subscribe to this view are not practising their faith consistently. Moreover he expresses fear that increasingly, the younger generation are taking their religion more seriously and are therefore becoming enemies of the state.

Wilders problem is not that he completely misunderstands Islam (there are plenty of Muslims with these views, we are fighting with them right now across the world), it is that he does not understand religion in general. Monotheism (belief in one God) cannot be reduced to a single interpretation of a Holy Book. Islamic, Christian, and Jewish communities have always been a spectrum of beliefs drawn from their sacred texts and changing according to their point in history and place in the world.

When Wilders isolates moderates from the discussion by claiming they cannot exist, he damages their credibility as a potential voice against extremism, and weakens their ability to build trust with society. By not recognising moderate, democratic, liberal, Islam, you deny it as a choice to Europes growing young Muslim population, making extremism and separatism their only obvious option.  

 I don’t doubt that “Islam Rising” will contain many interesting snippets, but as a commentary on what is really happening in Europe, it really will not do.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the post!!