No Burqas In The Anne Frank Museum, Young Lady

According to Geert Wilders, one can roam the streets of Amsterdam stoned, belly full of space cakes, window-shopping hookers, en route to a monkey sex show and still be a model citizen. But if one were to read from the Koran or pray to Allah, he'd be crossing that line that separates men from savages. Is Geert Wilders just a fun loving, anti-religion hedonist or...kind of a racist? I will say outwardly he may be a racist but who among us truly knows the hidden desires of a man's soul? Those monkey sex shows are disturbingly popular...

Wilders is a member of the Dutch Parliament and the leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom, which nobly seeks to liberate people from their chosen religion. On August 8th, the newspaper, De Volkskrant, published a letter from Wilder advocating a ban on the burqa, on Islamic schools, on new mosques, on non-western immigration, and on the Koran, which he compared to Hitler's Mein Kampf (long banned in the Netherlands). This is not the first time Wilders has taken a swing at Islam. Earlier this year, he told the newspaper De Pers that "If Mohammed lived here today, I would propose he be tarred and feathered as an extremist and driven out of the country." Can any of the sex workers in the Red Light district perform a tar and feathering? Maybe Wilders could work through some of his fantasies with a pro and get it out of his system?

Many politicians including Elle Vogelaar, the minister for integration and housing, were enraged by his recent comments as was the Muslim community, but Wilders is only an extreme example of a growing anti-Islam trend taking place in Dutch politics. Dutch Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende has pushed for tougher immigration laws aimed at reducing the influx of Muslims. Legislation banning the burqa has been circulating in parliament for years. Also, there is the matter of memorizing the Dutch national anthem.

As a bloggy personal note, I have to say the Dutch anthem is not the child's play language of "O' Say Can You See" but rather a 15-stanza poem over four hundred years old. A few years ago, as a post-college tourist idiot in Amsterdam, I remember staring blankly at incomprehensibly long street names thinking Dutch seemed a pretty tough nut to crack. As a quick example of a pronunciation puzzle, I present you with the Dutch translation of cottage: plattelandshuisje. But my language skills never progressed past basic Franglish so it could just be me.

Praying on the fear of terrorism among his people, Wilders has warned of a "tsunami of Islamisation in the Netherlands." Sharia law can sneak up on you like that. One day you're minding your business, passing the old Cock and Balls fountain (it exists) or a local tulip shop, when suddenly you feel compelled to grow a beard and toss Molotovs at infidel windmills. It's only a matter of time before you're tossing a Molotov at the infidel in yourself. Society unravels. Cats and dogs live together, etc. Who you gonna vote for?

Is Amsterdam losing its Anything Goes edge? It seems times have certainly changed since my last visit when my biggest fear was being Brokedown Palace-d, ending up in prison because of a heroin-filled souvenir clog my new boyfriend slipped in my backpack. I would so be the Kate Beckinsdale in that scenario and as soon as a roach laid eggs in my ear I'd be striking plea deals left and right. Roach eggs in one's ear is almost as much of a buzz kill as the racism, xenophobia, and extremist leaders profiting from the fears of their communities. Almost. I'm really sensitive about stuff in my ears.

Comments

[GreenPeaceIslam]

Cornine. Brilliant article. An island of sanity in a sea of bigotry, hate-mongering and fear.

Geert sees Islamic influences all around him in the Netherlands. He can take steps to eradicate these immediately.Perhaps as a precursor to banning the Quran and reducing Muslim immigration. Geert Wilders should begin eliminating existing Muslim influences in the Netherlands.

1) Let us start with Tulips. Tulips are of Islamic Turkish origins and a tulip flower represents the Arabic word "Allah" in Arabic. Geert Wilders should eliminate all tulips from the Netherlands. I feel sorry for Geert. Each time he sees a tlip he gets infuriated because it displays "Allah" in Arabic.To Arabs the Rose is called "flower of Muhammad" and the Arabic word Muhammad is sen in the rose. Greet should ban roses from Netherlands also.

2) Sugar (from the Arabic sukkar) was brought back by the Crusades from Muslim Jersalem. Geert Wilders should abn all sugar from the Netherlands.

3) Windmills were developed as a result of Muslim technology developed in Muslim Spain, Ottomans and the Arabs. Geert Wilders should immediately ban all windmills in the Netherlands.

4) Stiched cloth was an Arab invention in Spain. Geert Wilders should immediately ban stiched cloth.

The list is long, Croissoants, the Dome structures of building, gothic architecture, the paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass all have Islamic origins. Geert Wilders should eliminate all these from the Netherlands.

[timtimes]

Just want to reinforce the fact that there are plenty of violence oriented Christians. Bush for one. Ask any Iraqi citizen if they are "better off now than they were four years ago". It would appear in hindsight that the vast majority of folks that Saddam killed were religious extremists of the kind WE are now having trouble with.

If the Muslims in the Netherlands had committed no crime other than wearing a Burqa, then this wouldn't be an issue. The author of this piece fails to note the death (street stabbing) of a Van Gough. It also fails to note that Amsterdam is where Ann Frank and her family hid when the Nazi's were in power. The Dutch sensitivity against political or religious EXTTREMISM comes from history which helps explain the Mein Kampf ban. The Nazi Party is banned in Germany and if the Republicans and their moral minority keep acting like them over here, it's my hope that the same happens to them.

Major organized religions of the West are not immune from abusing their flock (Catholic Priests e.g.) or overstepping their influence on PUBLIC policy in many areas, some going so far as protesting GAY ISSUES at the funerals of our fallen soldiers. There is even a "Christian Soldiers" movement in this country. I saw it on the TV.

Read Sam Harris if you want an eye opening update on religion. It's time for all sane people to reign in the abuses of their own and keep their belief in fairies out of the public domain.

Enjoy.

[sculptor]

In one (idealistic) sense Islam deserves the right to coexist in western societies but in another (practical) sense it doesn't. The major Christian sects, to a large degree, have reformed themselves in order to better fit our society. Absurd destructive believes and intolerance have, for the most part, been purged by enlightened acts of self-censorship. However, in Islam no such practice has, in general, occurred. One difficulty is that Islam is a highly fractured religion. Not only are there many sects of Islam, in essence, each Inman is power unto himself. This differs from the highly hierarchical structure of the different Christian sects and makes reform or change of any sort, on other than a local level, very difficult.

[envirossf]

The problem here is the same problem inherent with all three of the major monotheistic religions. The problem is not the worship of a deity, but is the adherence to a list of rules that are based on a 3000 year old middle eastern culture, whether jew, christian, or muslim. When these rule are taught as absolute morality in the modern world there is bound to be conflict.

[negogato]

Well some of the 3000 year old rules have been tossed. Killing those found to be committing adultery - got a pass in most places.

And the many of the Christian conservatives in the US congress are appreciative.

[joanno]

This article and many of the posts in response underscore the deeper conflict of our times: how does a society respond to perceived threat from some "other" without taking on some of the very despised aspects of that other? It is a deeply human reaction to strike back at one who strikes at us, responding with pure emotion without thought or concern of what chain of events our actions or reactions may have. Over and over in human history, that has produced long and deep cycles of violence. It is only when the human capacity for reason asserts itself that a resolution that moves us forward is possible. A post above discussed religous fundementalism as a reponse to a perceived threat. However, religions aren't the only group that can feel threatened as is witnessed all the time across the political and national spectrums. What should frighten us all is the ascendency of pure emotion as the prime driving force of our time for groups large and small, powerful and weak. If we are to break from the numbing fear and hatred dominating all discussion of differences, we must re-embrace reason as the distingushing mark of humanity or face extinction at our own hands. There are no easy answers...but there are answers that can lead us forward instead of keeping us in the death spiral we now embrace.

[KHANDARA]

if this guy isn't already on the american bushjuice he's missing a golden opportunity

has anybody investigated his connections and funding? - this is exactly the kind of cia black-ops shit that the cheney neocons love to play

of course, i do wear a tin foil cap on occassion

[YellowPanties]

This whole column failed to make its point. Some areas of life in the Netherlands have been decriminalized, such as some drug use and prostitution, it is true. You have completely failed to grasp that the reason the Dutch advocate this type of thing is so that society functions smoothly. Prostitution and drug use cannot be eradicated, therefore, regulate it, make it safe for the worker and the customer, and try and educate the public, which they have done.

The reason the Dutch are against the creation of a separate Islamic subculture that flies in the face of everything their open progressive society stands for, should be obvious. Holland is a small place with a small population. It is within their rights and the best interests of their nation to attempt to protect their open society. LIke it or not, believe it or not, Islam is not open. Islam is an oppressive religion, (which is almost redundant). The best way for the Dutch to ensure that the children of immigrants to Holland assimilate is to ban the symbols, modes, and thoughts of their oppression. Allowing burqas and Islamic schools and a separate society to thrive within Holland is backwards and dangerous.

If this is about respecting another's religion, ask yourself if forcing sharia law on people deserves respect? Do you respect the cultures that practice female genital mutilation? Sometimes it is actually okay to say someone else's way of life is bullshit.

[negogato]

Cousin religions Islam and Judaism not practice conversion. That is what the Christians do. Of the three, Abraham would probably say, if he could speak from his grave in Iraq, that the Christians were the farther away from his word.
This is a misguided effort at conversion.
But feeding oppression by banning Islamic practices would entrench resistance to assimilation. Nothing is more powerful than the feeling of being a victim.
The Japanese kicked out the priests and banned Christianity and yet it survived underground for more than one hundred and fifty years. It emerged strong and grew steadily.

As a side bar: the 2 centers of Christianity in Japan were the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two American A-bombs did quite a job on the Christians in Japan, and destroyed the largest Christian church in Asia and of course all the people who worshiped Christ there.

I don"t remember word of a single Muslim participating.

[HamletsMill]

Part One

Yellowpanties,

Your thoughtful post is much appreciated. It has brought up memories for me.

After I got out of the U.S. military in 1971 I went into my extended young Hemingway period on the road traveling the world. I was very glad to be alive. In my travels I lived in Holland for a while. I learned that the Dutch are so tolerant because of the repression they suffered under harsh Spanish Catholic rule. As a result they later became a haven for free thought. As we all know, the Pilgrims on the Mayflower left from Leiden, Holland. Few people realize this today
but most of the human rights ideas behind our form of government are not British at all, but Dutch.

When I lived there I figured as a person trying to understand life to write about the human condition that the famous red light district of
Amsterdam would be an interesting place to live for a while.

I got on the train and went there to spend a day exploring and trying to find a room to rent. The ladies in the windows seemed to do a brisk business all day long. I went up to one and asked in English if there were any rooms for rent in the area. I perceived that she was not a young Madam Curie in intelligence but she was
very good natured and helpful and told me an address of where to go and ask. I wrote it down. Her smile was charming but I had other business on my mind. I smiled back and tipped my cap in thanks.

(continued...)

[HamletsMill]

Part Two

I went to the address and knocked on the door. Another beautiful woman answered. I again made my inquiry. She stared for a moment sizing me up and then motioned me inside. She gave me a place to sit while she went behind a curtained doorway. She came back with an older woman. The woman was quite attractive but I sensed immediately that she was beyond the windows as a way of life. In those days I was a rapidly developing hippie prince for each month I had been out of the military. By this time I looked like John Wilkes Booth. I wore a very theatrical Edwardian cut stage coat which I had got in
London. She seemed to take a fancy to me.

I asked if there were any rooms for rent in the area. Both her and the other lady were very amused by this question from me. She spoke
in English but very slowly as she seemed to have to think everything out. I likewise slowed down my speaking. We hit a rhythm and could
communicate back and forth. She would sometimes speak in Dutch to the other woman making her laugh. I knew they were taking great delight in my naivety.

She asked me why I wanted to rent a room. I said I was a budding writer and I wanted to study life by living there for awhile.

She said that there were no rooms available in the area because the real estate was much more valuable for other purposes. Both of them
grinned at me. Now I knew why I was sent here. She was the Madam who owned several properties there. She motioned for me to follow her
through the curtain. On the other side was a room of women counting money! This woman had her operation down. I felt privileged in that
she had invited me into the inner sanctum of her operation.

(continued...)

[LordMoon]

Honesty, I tried to find something in this article that meant something, mostly it just boiled down to our enemies are bad we are good, people elswhere are funny....

But since we never really look at ourselves, here in Los Angeles, and the things we do to each other, our children, I suppose that too will be left to others from a foreign land to point fingers at us, and grimace at our barbarity...

Such is the price of relativism, and the ignorance and defensiveness that goes with it.

[Pneumaticus]

Thanks for the travel tip, Corinne. Amsterdam defintely sounds like the place to be these days, as long as there aren't too many post-college tourist idiots in burqas wandering around trying to read the street signs while bogarting that joint...

[JScott]

Actually.....

'If Mohammed lived here today' or any other prophet for that matter, they would be apalled at what religion has become. Mohammed would say 'wtf is it with burqas and hijab, I never said anything about that and it was never stated in the Quar'an, and what's with this Quar'an anyway, I never wrote that, it's not Allah's work, I wasn't able to write back then'
(hey google it folks---even scholarly islamic and religious websites)

[hoopoe]

very true. i think jesus would say the same. both jesus and mohammed were illiterate, and their teachings were written down after their deaths. and then interpreted and reinterpreted for centuries, gathering cultural accretions like burqas and gaudy pope hats until they resemble very little of the original vision. if only followers realized that...

[woodsywizz]

Jesus was not illiterate. On a trip to Jerusalem at the age of 12 (13?), he "disappeared". His frantic parents found him, many hours later, in the Temple, explaining Scripture to the astounded priests. At that age he had already absorbed all the law and prophecies, and seen through to the Divine thread interwoven therein. We do not have a book written by Jesus, does that prove there wasn't one? At any rate he was not illiterate!

[FearlessKnight]

It's not very effective to make a point against discrimination by gleefully belittling and mocking another country's culture! Integration issues are real enough to warrant serious discussion.

[smartstuart]

So keeping the Muslims out keeps things safer? What about the Timothy McVeigh-types? what about the Dutch Muslims who are already citizens? What about lunatics like The Dutch pol suggesting these things(like our own bigoted racist, Tom Tancredo)???

[cylindar]

I think the dude is right. Moslems think it is ok to stone women to death for adultry. Now I gotta tell you honey thats not gonna fly in my neighborhood!!!

[1will]

www.apostatesofislam.com actually has videos of Muslims being stoned to death and limbs being cut off. The site was started by those that have renounced Islam. It's pretty interesting and has a few facts that the Muslim world doesn't usually talk about.

[khblake]

The Dutch face the timeless political riddle of how the tolerant should deal with those who seek to undermine the premise of tolerance itself. Not likely that Wilders's solution of banning books or clothes is the best solution. Perhaps there's a Dutch Louis Brandeis who can put them on the right track:

"To courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present, unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion. If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."

[plutorage]

There is nothing wrong with banning a specific religion if that is what the population in a domcracy want to do. It is wrong to do it in a way that is violent or persecutes the particular followers of the religion.

Christianity is banned in many Islamic countries, for example. Saddam Hussein did not ban Christianity but George Bush's Arab ruler friends do ban the practice of Christianity.

[marko77]

"Christianity is banned in many Islamic countries, for example. Saddam Hussein did not ban Christianity but George Bush's Arab ruler friends do ban the practice of Christianity." by plutorage
---------------------------
That is true. In Saudi Arabia it is against the law to practice any religion except Islam, of course.

When the Prophet Muhammad was on Earth, he was tolerant of other religions, but this is not the case with the Wahhabi sect - and this sect determines how Islam is to be practiced in Saudi Arabia, which is Muhammad's birthplace and where Muslims make the pilgrimage to Mecca. Hence, it is the center of the Islamic world.

Geert Wilders makes the mistake of denouncing the Prophet Muhammad, who was tolerant and did not defend himself except when attacked. Wilders does not understand that the Prophet Muhammad's teachings have been twisted by Islamic extremists, and this is a problem, because of their fervor and violence.

Are there similarities in other religions? Of course. The "Rapture Ready" people are as ignorant and as charged up as the Wahhabis, although not as violent - although they all want a seat at the 50 yard line in Israel to witness
WWIII, because they believe this is necessary before Christ will come to Earth again.

The CNN special "God's Warriors" lays it out very well.

[1will]

Was Muhammed really tolerant of other religions or did he just tolerate them as long as the others were willing to be treated as inferiors and taxed extra (Jizya)?