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Muslim cleric calls for beheading of Geert Wilders

No, they're not exclusive. Both spread hate.

But the difference is that Wilders is under constant threat to his life from Muslim terrorists for saying Islam is violent.

"Stop saying we're violent OR WE'LL KILL YOU!!!!" doesn't seem to encourage people to think Islam is moderate, for some reason.
 
I think that neither Geert Wilders nor this Imam, Feiz Muhammad, should build a Mosque at ground zero.
 
Mycroft said:
I think that neither Geert Wilders nor this Imam, Feiz Muhammad, should build a Mosque at ground zero.
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Put them both in a large room with lost of knives and clubs, lock the door, and leave them alone. Two less wackjobs in the world.
 
I'm not real familiar with this Wilders cat, but...

Wilders is currently on trial in the Netherlands for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

The Freedom Party leader made a film in 2008 which accused the Koran of inciting violence and mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book.'

Wilders was also charged because of outspoken remarks in the media, such as an opinion piece in a Dutch daily in which he compared Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf."
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He appears to be poking a stick in a well known hornet's nest.

"inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims." If only these were illegal in the US, oh nevermind, the prisons are already full.
 
Pardalis said:
Had Wilders ever called for the murder of anyone?
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That's where the moral equivalence breaks down. I don't approve of everything Wilders says. But AFAIK he has never called for the murder of people who criticize Western cultural values.
 
johnny karate said:
Here's a news story about three black people committing a violent crime:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20015517-504083.html

But it's me who is spreading hate, intolerance, and extremism because I don't want black people moving into my neighborhood. Right... got it.
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You seem to be missing the point. If that's your opinion and you make a political career out of it, then you deserve to be publicly criticized and ridiculed. But you don't deserve to be killed, and you don't deserve to be stifled with ugly threats of violence. These threats aren't idle, either- that's what happened to Theo van Gogh.

I don't like a lot of what Wilders says, but he's clearly up against people who are far worse than himself.
 
Alright, jokes aside, isn't it weird this article doesn't name this Muslim cleric until the 4th paragraph? His name should be right up there in the first paragraph if not the headline.

When Pat Robertson says something stupid the headline reads "Pat Robertson says something stupid", not "Prominent Christian calls for...something stupid".
 
ravdin said:
You seem to be missing the point. If that's your opinion and you make a political career out of it, then you deserve to be publicly criticized and ridiculed. But you don't deserve to be killed, and you don't deserve to be stifled with ugly threats of violence.
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I don't recall making an argument to the contrary.
 
ravdin said:
A Muslim cleric in Australia has called for the beheading of Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
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Australian-born, but currently resides in Malaysia, apparently.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100903/wl_nm/us_dutch_wilders

But it's Wilders who is spreading hate, intolerance, and extremism. Right... got it.
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Wilders does spread hate, intolerance, and extremism. But he doesn't deserve death threads from radical extremists (or anyone else), and I have no problem condemning the cleric in question.

From what the linked article says, said cleric seems to be a pretty nasty piece of work, too.
 
Skeptic said:
"Stop saying we're violent OR WE'LL KILL YOU!!!!" doesn't seem to encourage people to think Islam is moderate, for some reason.
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I've been thinking about this issue, and it has occured to me that there's a language barrier that's getting in the way of Islam/Western relations.

It could be that when Arabic speakers hear the word "violent", it is somewhat akin to the English word "murder". To murder is to kill, but the subtle difference is important. It would be considered inflammatory language to say "the slaughterhouse murders cows".

Perhaps when Muslims hear "violence" they get the connotation of "unjustified violence". To them, burning down a church in retaliation for inflammatory remarks may not be considered violence at all, no more than swatting a fly would be considered murder.

This is just a hunch on my part. I don't really know enough about Arabic language or culture to make an informed hypothesis.
 
aggle-rithm said:
I've been thinking about this issue, and it has occured to me that there's a language barrier that's getting in the way of Islam/Western relations.
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In this particular case, I don't think there is a translation problem with "beheading". I don't speak Arabic but I'd bet "beheading" means "beheading".
 
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