We often look to Europe, and the Netherlands in particular, as the model of a tolerant and open society, free of religious and conservative bollocks that so often taints our own culture. Unfortunately, the winds of change are blowing in the Netherlands and it's an ill wind indeed.
Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, is now on trial for offending Muslims. His horrid crime? Making statements like:
Those Moroccan boys are really violent. They beat up people because of their sexual orientation. I have never used violence.
The truth of that statement, however, is not the issue... Wilders is being tried because people were offended - nobody denies the veracity of his statements.
Also at issue is his movie Fitna. Apparently displaying Islamic douchebaggery to the world is a crime in the Netherlands. Again, it's not the veracity of the things in the film that is being questioned, it's that he said them at all.
I make this post because Canada is not far behind. We sacrifice people on the altar of political correctness not usually because people are performing flagrantly racist, discriminatory and hurtful acts, but rather because they say things that offend people, EVEN IF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE. That's what's happening with Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, and that's what happens here. At least Wilders gets a public trial in court... in Canada he'd be jacked up in a secret kangaroo court called a Human Rights Commission.
What kind of culture suppresses truth? Certainly not a healthy one. All Canadians should be watching the Wilders trial with interest. We have hate speech laws that could easily be perverted into the same kind of truth suppression. What's really bad here is that Wilders is an elected politician... that's right, his political enemies are using a perverse law to suppress political opinion.
In a free and democratic society, nobody has the right to not be offended. You may not like what your neighbour says, but if it's true, suck it up buttercup. Part of being free is being allowed to speak the truth. People who can't handle the truth simply don't deserve to be here.
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