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.