Comments on: Theo Van Gogh was no ‘critic of Islam’

By: Lopakhin

Lopakhin — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 10:59:38 +0000

Mani –
you say his attitude to ‘Jews and Muslims’ got him killed.I think it was just the latter, you know, old chap. Something tells me that Mr Bouyeri wouldn’t have objected to any anti-Semitism on Theo’s part, in fact quite the opposite. By the way, believe it or not, noone is ‘born’ a Muslim, or an adherent of any other religion. One is either indoctrinated into a religion or chooses it freely.

By: Paul Coyle

Paul Coyle — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:25:11 +0000

I get a kick out of Muslims saying don’t criticize our religion. No religion is as hateful as Islam. They hate the pagans, the atheist, the Buddhist, the Jews the Christians..

Furthermore, I can’t think of a mode of thought, called Islam, that is more in need of sever criticism and belittlement. Read the Koran. It is the Mien Kamph of religion.

By: mani

mani — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 10:39:35 +0000

in my opinion Van Gogh should not have ridiculed other peoples religion becouse everyone was born different and in different parts of the world. it is unfair thjat he was killed but if it wasnt for his attitude towards msulims and jews he wouldnt have got killed becouse i didnt see him taking the mick out of christians or hindus.

By: Mira

Mira — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 01:02:12 +0000

It may well be true that Van Gogh was the first person killed for offending Muslims, in the west. But that’s to ignore the reality of the death threats pronounced and in place against other ‘offenders’ – Rushdie, Manji, Hirsi- and the chilling truth that, given the opportunity, there are enough nutcases who are serious enough to have a go at these targets.

It is also worthwhile to remember that in the non-western world from Nigeria to Pakistan to Bangladesh, many lives have been lost over perceived insult to Islam/the prophet and numerous writers and artists have had to live with the constant and REAL threat of death from mobs mobilised by the mullahs.

Van Gogh was crude and unsubtle in his attacks and an undoubted equal opportunity provocateur. But his film and rants against the hypocrisy and intolerance of certain muslims certainly counts as valid criticism of an ideology he perceived as totalitarian.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 08:55:45 +0000

Perhaps that is because like Rushdi they have to live under protection and on the run, so as not to suffer the same fate as van Gogh. Ayaan Hirsi Ali springs to mind or if you want death there are several confirmed cases:

Hitoshi Igarashi – Japanese translator of The Satanic Verses, was stabbed to death in July 1991

Thirty-seven guests died when their hotel in Sivas, Turkey was burnt down by locals protesting against Aziz Nesin, Rushdie’s Turkish translator.

Farag Foda – shot dead by militants from an Islamic fundamentalist group after being branded as an apostate

Rashad Khalifa – declared an apostate in a fatwa issued by 38 Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia murdered in 1990 in Tuscon, Arizona

By: The Evangelical Atheist » Blog Archive » Carnival of the Godless XIX

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 04:06:29 +0000

[…] m as an alternative worldview that may address the criticisms of both theism and atheism. Theo Van Gogh Was No “Critic of Islam” John B. of The Sharpener offers a scathing criticism of thi […]

By: Yusuf Smith

Yusuf Smith — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:50:09 +0000

Everybody has known since Salman Rushdi that if you do anything to offend Islam you get a death sentence, but should we really just accept that and so try to avoid offending them, or point out that murdering your critics is not part of western civilisation.

I’ve seen quite a few incidents since then where people have offended Islam or Muslims in some way (particularly since 9/11) and have come off none the worse. The Rushdie affair took place during the lifetime of Khomeini whose various agents and front groups operated in a number of countries and started a lot of trouble, and at a time when Iranian-Western relations were on a different footing compared to now. In fact, I can’t remember anyone being killed by Muslims for offences against Islam in the western world before Van Gogh.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:57:57 +0000

As Steve said, he offended everybody. But it was only the Muslims that turned this offence into murder. And if he was really acting like a drunk that spits in the local crack dealer’s pint, should we really be defending the crack dealer?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:50:16 +0000

His death shows that you can get away with offending feminists and Jews. They just shout at you a lot. Offend Muslims and sooner or later, one of them will kill you.

By: Guy

Guy — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 15:16:18 +0000

I just put a translation of Mohammed Bouyeri’s speech on my blog. One excerpt:

“It is not true that I was offended as a Moroccan because he (Van Gogh) called me a goat fucker. What I did, I did out of conviction. If it had been my father or my little brother, I would have done the same. Should I be released from prison, I would do exactly the same.”

And yes, Van Gogh was an avid agitator and over-all emmerdeur. But he too acted out of conviction.