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Freedom of speech and life

13 comments on Freedom of speech and life

Freedom of speech and life

: Theo Van Gogh was killed for words and images.

You can go hear and see them here. Download that Bitttorrent (and then go here and download the xvid codec).

: UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post argues that the country has become too tolerant… of intolerance.

A Dutch Muslim school was bombed and mosques have been attacked.

It is in English with Dutch subtitles. A barely veiled woman recites stories of abuse with much invocation of Allah.

It is words. Stories. News.

A man died for it.

This is not about just protecting the freedom to speak. It is about protecting the freedom to live.

13 responses to “Freedom of speech and life”

  1. syn Avatar
    syn

    Assassination of the artists is a sign of Fascism. Something Hollywood seems to be ignoring while it applaudes the works of well-crafted propagandists like Leni Reifenstahl and Michael Moore.
    On the topic of films. I hope many will see the film “Voices of Iraq” out in, unfortunately, only five cites in the US. It is a film created by distributing 150 digital cameras to Iraqi people throughout Iraq and having them express their experiences.
    One interesting comment made by an Iraqi Cleric who is a supporter of bringing Democracy to the Middle East. He said that Islam has become a slave to the state. That for the Islamic religion to be truly free it must free itself from the rule of state theocracy.
    That said, I simply do not understand why this film is only shown in five cities in the US? If the White House is in such control of our lives, why are films like “Voices of Iraq” being suppressed?

  2. BigFire Avatar
    BigFire

    Re: syn
    Suppressed by White House? Surely you jest. Hollywood hates Bush with all of its whatever-fiber. Anything that makes Bush looks good is automatically a damaged good, and needs to be shoved under the rug.

  3. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    It’s a shame that this story isn’t getting more attention. They went bananas over the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Now a man is murdered for his thoughts by the same group Zarkawi sprung from(spelling) and just a little more than a year after Pim Fortyn was murdered for being “right wing” (in his case wanting to preserve a liberal Dutch society from Arab immigrants intolerant of Dutch liberty).
    Where is the MSM?

  4. Easycure Avatar
    Easycure

    Why is Voices In Iraq only in five cities? Because it doesn’t make any money. If a nude Shania Twain was in it, it would make billions.

  5. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    And the reprisals begin. Hopefully this isn’t the start of a very, very bad thing.

  6. mary Avatar
    mary

    According to the Belmont Club, the Dutch government removed Van Gogh’s film from the Stedelijk Museum of modern art because they thought it might cause an “uproar”. They also pulled it off the TV stations and replaced it with a program about ‘how a multicultural society should deal with freedom of expression”
    When the government does something like this, they’re telling people that they have no intention of defending or protecting the right to free speech.
    If people think that their government is not going to protect them, some will decide to protect themselves, leading to the violent overreaction that’s going on in the Netherlands now.

  7. Dishman Avatar
    Dishman

    Speaking of bad, via Rantburg, there have been commments made regarding “bring(ing) back the trains for them”.
    I think there’s a choice between having the government take effective action and letting things simmer until something really bad happens.
    Take unpleasant action now, or run the risk of real ugliness later. The worst case would make Europe’s last ugliness look like “the summer of love”.
    I, for one, really don’t want that.

  8. syn Avatar
    syn

    Bigfire
    Yes indeed I jest. I thought I was attempting to call out those who claim ‘fascism in the White House’ are absurd in their claims.
    I must correct the number of cities the film is shown to seven cities.
    The film was produced by a couple of people who have worked in the Hollywood industry so not all of Hollywood is against America however, distribution has always been a problem for so many films which do not follow the industry norm. A film cannot make any money if it is only shown in seven theaters.
    In my opinion, “Voices of Iraq” can be considered a real independent film.
    How about releasing to film to the same number of theaters as Fahrenheit 9/11 was released, then we will see if a nude Shania Twain is necessarily needed in order to draw attention.
    Meanwhile, the anti-American industry in Hollywood, which today is really outsourced in Canada, is going to continue producing films which mock, ridicule, and blame American ideals and American life as the root to all evil.
    I am surprised SAG union members have been so quiet with regard to the amount of jobs Hollywood has outsourced to other countries over the past several years.

  9. dbsodol@braindamage.com Avatar
    dbsodol@braindamage.com

    this really is crazy news. the dutch, who are arguably the most liberal peoples on earth, are now starting to see what this liberal immigration policy of theirs is causing in their streets and in their heartland. even these so called open minded people cannot stomach the infestation of vermin that their country is experiencing.
    this all boils down to one thing and one thing only: Islam. it is NOT a religion of peace by any means. show me one islamic country today that is not (or has not been) at war with one of it’s neighbors. be it muslims in india, muslims in sudan, muslims in indonesia, or muslims anywhere else on earth (chechneya, iraq, iran, saudi arabia) – these people have a history of violence, murder, suppression, and oppression. these people CANNOT live in peace with western cultures (nor buddhist or hindu cultures either). in france, these people cannot fit in. in england, these people cannot fit in and obviously in the most liberal country on earth – the netherlands – these people CANNOT fit in.
    and what’s even more troubling about this is the moderate muslims. these are the ones who are supposed to make their voices and ideologies heard denouncing and renouncing their more violent brethren. where are these people now? where is mr. farrakhan calling to call upon a ceasefire on the slaughter of thousands of innocent christian blacks in sudan? where were these moderate voices after baslan? they don’t exist now and they didn’t exist after 9/11.
    we as a western culture have more to fear from the moderates then the fundamentalists. it doesn’t matter if you’re a lefty or righty or a tree hugging deadhead. these people hate you equally and wholesomely. the west has a plague upon itself and i only pray (i’m agnostic so i am just praying to a central being somehwere up there…) that we as a CULTURE come together against this vile and vicious enemy.

  10. dbsodol@braindamage.com Avatar
    dbsodol@braindamage.com

    and one more thing – considering what just happened to theo van gogh perhaps my least favorite polemecist (michael moore)can go and make a documentary depicting life as an indentured muslim servant woman.
    just kidding just kidding.

  11. Harry in Atlanta Avatar
    Harry in Atlanta

    Van Gogh wasn’t killed over words and images, Van Gogh was killed for his opinion and ideas. His words and images simply conveyed those opinions and ideas. If Van Gogh would have been pro-Islamist and hurled hate speech against Christianity and the US, which I understand he did quite frequently, he would still be alive today with the blessing of the Dutch government. Just goes to show you what moral relativism will get you. For Van Gogh it got him left-wing tolerance martyrdom. I hope for Europe’s sake it was worth it.

  12. Harry in Atlanta Avatar
    Harry in Atlanta

    And cultural relativism also for that fact.

  13. carsonfire Avatar
    carsonfire

    “too tolerant… of intolerance.”
    While the left correctly recognizes cross burning as intolerance, somehow the violent in-your-face desecration that is flag burning is “freedom of speech”.
    A man almost ran over Katherine Harris with a car. He told the police that almost running over a hated Republican was his “freedom of expression”.
    Two young men assaulted a woman with a pie — the hated Ann Coulter — because there was a “bounty” out on hitting her. My view is that this is the most pathetic of all… “throwing a pie” sounds so comical, but it is still solid matter hitting an unsuspecting person — in this case, a 100-pound woman, thrown by bigger men — in the head.
    And the result: no outrage whatsoever in the media. Complete and absolute tolerance of leftist intolerance. But would hitting Maureen Dowd be “freedom of speech”? Would burning a pile of Michael Moore films be “free speech”? Would it be just a matter of making one’s political views clear if one were to push Hillary Clinton in front of a moving bus?
    The left does have a growing intolerance problem… here and around the world. And I think it was one of many factors people weighed in their minds before going to the polls last week.