Fear, lies, deceit.

[janestarz]

Every day there's scary things in the news. Yesterday, Theo van Gogh, a Dutch columnist and filmmaker, was shot and stabbed in wonderful Amsterdam. Theo was not only someone who dared speak his mind, above all I saw him as a fat sexist bastard who smoked too much. Luckily, the media understand the Dutch saying "over de doden niets dan goeds" (lit: "about the dead nothing but good", meaning, don't discredit the dead. They may have been bastards but let's not think about that right now.). Besides, I never knew the man.
Now that he's dead, he is praised as a family man (he never skipped dinner with his child), someone who dared to speak his mind openly, and a wonderful filmmaker.
Suddenly, this chain-smoking guy is raised onto a pedestal, and praised because he dared speak his opinion. And suddenly, with this brutal murder, Dutch politicians fear that the freedom of speach might be threatened by this. I mean, what the fuck? Balkenende with his "normen and waarden" is static, nothing really registers if he's said it, but my scepticism could not ignore this.

I interpret his words (on the radio yesterday) as a warning. He feels that we are slowly sinking back into a backward country where freedom of speech is stopped by people with a gun? What kind of crap is that?

I for one believe that the government should do more to inform people. Not in a propaganda way, but in an absolute objective way. The notes on cigarettes are a good example "smoking will kill you". Hang up posters, saying "you have the freedom to speak your mind, but be careful not to tread on another's rights to have a different belief." or something. I don't know, do something to shake people awake. Everything gets more expensive, and people shout at commercials being boring or deceitful, but those commercials do make sure you can watch commercial television and that show you're addicted to. How many people just walk around with their eyes covered and just see their own little world? I can get so angry about people who remain willfully ignorant.

In a speech last night, at the memorial service and silent tour of the city, there were speeches. Rita Verdonk, who is in charge of integration in our parlement said that we could do two things. We could either retaliate with hate, and take up arms, and answer revenge with revenge until we fall into chaos, or we could say "Stop! This is as far as you can go". And I fear that some people can not see the difference between these two.
It takes a courageous person nowadays to stand up and say "you're not allowed to smoke here" or point out that other people might have a problem with your behaviour. But we mustn't give up and we must remain calm and indeed stand up for our rights and remain calm. Shouting will never resolve anything, nor will weapons.
Some people will welcome an open discussion, but really is this "let's discuss the islam" thing entirely necessary? I've seen only extremist muslims, extremist christians, extremist nationalists (etc.) cause any trouble. Yes, the guy who murdered Theo van Gogh was a muslim, of Marroccan and Dutch nationality. He was also known with the AIVD (Dutch internal security organization), and known to have some ties with extremists. It's not so much his beliefs that caused this, it's the fact that he was an extremist. The Christian bible, just like the Koran, the Jewish Torah and most other religion's holy scriptures, speak of violence, punishing heretics, killing enemies, performing gruesome acts in the name of a Higher being. "Why can't we all just get along" (Muhammad Ali?). If you believe in a Higher Being that loves all his children, all humans, why would he want you to murder others for him? I know the answer, from the Bible only: because He would want you to help your fellow humans to see the truth, and you are to blame if you allow heretics to live and sustain the status-quo." Well, ain't that swell. Whaddaya think you got a brain for? Just to realize the opposable thumb is just the thing you need to steady the gun so you can pull the trigger?

It's frightening really, that if muslims and christians (and I use the term ligthly, because though there are a lot of people in Holland who can't possibly be regarded as real christians or would not look upon themselves so, try to prove that to the other side) were to wage war, we'd have the biggest massacre on our hands since the Plague. There is so much here worth living for, if you only open your eyes to the wonders of the world. How can you not weep when you see what wonders nature alone has in store for you. And the infinite possibilities interaction with other humans can give you. Life is too grand to focus on those kinds of things. So what, he's got another skincolour. So what, he might be carrying a knife. You're not allowed to smoke in the subways because it can seriously inconvenience someone or even harm them if they're allergic.

"And I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it. You've gotta go sometime." (Pink Floyd - The Great Gig In The Sky)

Speaking of lies and deceit and death, what the hell got into Bush? He's ahead two electoral votes, and he claims victory while not all votes have been counted? He thinks he can pull off last times' stunt? By all rights, he shouldn't be even running to stay into office, by all rights, Al Gore should have had the Oval Office to himself for the past four years, if not for the retarded voting system in the USA.

Don't let your fear become more powerful than your will. That is what they mean when they say "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Comments

[steelweaver.livejournal.com]

I think you've just expressed exactly how I felt about Theo van Gogh. What I most remember about him was his complete lack of respect for others and his total failure to consider any shades of grey. It feels like Pim Fortuyn all over again...somehow kicking the bucket in a spectacular way automatically means you're a saint.

Although with Pim Fortuyn, we had the good fortune that the murderer turned out to be a Dutchman. It did start a debate on how the 'bullet came from the left', how those icky environmentalist lefties had basically pulled the trigger, but it did not encourage his more rabid followers to do even more nasty things to people from ethnic minorities.

Right now, like you, I'm afraid that people will see this as an excuse to mistreat anyone who might have a minority background. It's always so much easier to find a scapegoat than to accept that Shit Happens.

Also, on the elections, I think Bush is going to win, the chances of Kerry winning are getting slimmer by the minute. There's nothing left to do for us other than try to avoid dealing with them and hoping it'll be over fast. As for the Americans, well, I feel very sorry for the ones who didn't vote for Shrub, but the others wished for this and got their wish. They've made their bed, now they can get screwed in it.

[twilightbanana.livejournal.com]

His opinions hurt a lot of people. He seemed to delight in targetting specific religions and groups with his derision, using the most insulting terms he could think of. He did not just not try to spare anyone's feelings, he went out of his way to hurt them as much as possible.

That said, noone deserves to be shot for having an opinion. Our society is supposed to be based on the fact that we can always talk things out. Rather than using superior reasoning to overcome flawed rhetoric, force was applied. While this society still values reason over force, force used against a standing point will only strengthen that point's position.

For that one murderer, there are hundreds of thousands of moslims who could never kill anyone, who abhor violence exactly as much as anyone else does. Psycho's just need a reason. Wether that reason is their religion, race, or wether they think they've had a bad day, it doesn't matter. They are the ones who are flawed, who can easily see people as targets.

[coen.livejournal.com]

Some of the things Theo van Gogh said, I actually agreed with. But I hardly ever agreed with the way he said it. I think he often was rude and insulting when there was absolutely no need for it. I don't think that did the discussion about the Islam and integration any good.
Sometimes I liked Theo van Gogh. The way he looked. His humor. To be a Bekende Nederlander and still dress like shit: I like that. But sometimes I despised of him.
I am a bit surprised now. Now everyone seems to have liked him. All of a sudden he was everybody's best friend. That can't be true. There must have been more people who hated him.
(And hating someone is something entirely different from wanting them dead or wanting them murdered. I hate Balkenende, but I do hope with all of my heart that no lunatic ever uses violence against him. I don't want him hurt, I just want him out of our government)

The murder was horibble. And it affects us all.
The murderer was a muslim fundamentalist. The keyword is fundamentalist, not muslim.
The murderer of Pim Fortuyn was a environmental socialist fundamentalist. Again the keyword is fundamentalist.
I am a socialist myself, but I want nothing to do with the murder on Pim Fortuyn.
Quite the contrary. How I wish he was still alive, so that all of his stupid followers could see that all those promises would never have brought us anything. He would not have made our country a better place, he would not have stopped bureacracy and crime and violence. If he was still alive, people would see that. Now that he is dead, he is the greatest dutchman ever, damned.
But anyway, that is off topic.
The important thing is; any sane socialist or environmentalist would never muder Fortuyn, just as any sane muslim would never murder Van Gogh.
It's the fundamentalists that we need to fear. And I do fear them a lot.
And I do fear for the life of Hirschi Ali. I fear for her very much.

These are not good times.

[muizenstaartje.livejournal.com]

Theo van Gogh liked to provoke people and he liked to get reactions while stepping on a lot of toes. I don’t know much about him, because I only read some of his columns in the Metro and I started to skip them, because they appeared annoyingly the same to me, always saying his opinion about the Islam in such a way it would get reactions, while it could be worded another way. I recall wishing he would change the subject, because it would be interesting to see a very strong opinion about very different subjects.

He wanted a reaction and he got one that is hard to joke about. A lot of people disliked him, but most of them were taught that if you have a problem with someone you talk about it and work it out. I wish that Dutch politicians would stop running around like headless chickens screaming it’s the end of freedom of speech. The murderer might be a fundamentalist with ties to “terroristic” organizations, but he’s a criminal first and criminals will be caught and brought to court. If the murderer should get a tag it should be “criminal” or “murderer” and not “fundamentalist” or “terrorist”. A lot of people get murdered for various reasons and it should be made clear that murder is not tolerated. Are people scared to go shopping? Are people scared to go jogging in the park? Are people scared to say you can’t vandalize stuff or you should respect the elderly? Some are or are sometimes, but still people shop, jog and stand up for others and their values. My guess is that it’s the same with people expressing their minds within the boundaries of the law.

That’s because you break the law by murdering people or propagating that people should be murdered, whether you are a fundamentalist or not. It’s the government’s job to ensure the laws are reinforced and people should know what will be and what won’t be tolerated. The government should consider this as a warning that there are people who think they can do whatever they like and not as the end of the freedom of speech.

[elektron.livejournal.com]

It's not just the screwy voting system that made Bush win. It's the screwy ballots, too, and the fact that nobody thought recounting all of Florida was a good idea.

Sadly, Bush got more votes this time x.x