The International Double Standard:

Anti-Islam Remarks Punished by Law,

Anti-Christian Remarks Protected by Law


Mark Alessio
REMNANT COLUMNIST, New York
 

 (Posted 01/08/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) The Austrian Times reports: “The Austrian parliament’s Immunity Committee is expected to lift political immunity on FPÖ deputy Suzanne Winter today – meaning she could be prosecuted for anti-Islam remarks she made during a provincial election campaign in January. The public prosecutor has charged Winter with hate-mongering and vilification of religious teaching for remarks she made during a municipal-election campaign in Graz.”

During an election campaign speech delivered last January, Suzanne Winter of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ, Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs) had referred to Muhammad as “a child molester” (because he had married a six-year-old girl) and “a warlord” who had written the Koran during “epileptic fits.” In addition, she described Islam as “a totalitarian system of domination that should be cast back to its birthplace on the other side of the Mediterranean,” and warned of “a Muslim immigration tsunami,” stating that “in 20 or 30 years, half the population of Austria will be Muslim” if the present immigration policies continue.

Winter was placed in protective custody as a result of this speech after her life was threatened by “Muslim extremists.” In April, she was indicted on charges of “incitement and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation” (Verhetzung und Herabwürdigung religiöser Symbole), an offense which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Winter has stated that she welcomes the lifting of her political immunity and the subsequent court proceedings:

She called the imposition of charges against her an exercise in "political hatred by crazy, self-proclaimed thought-police." It could not be, she added, that a person could be tried for expression of opinion in a democracy. There could be no political persecution in a country where the rule of law prevailed, she said, since such persecution could occur only in a "dictatorship of conscience."

Comment: In an April 1, 2008 editorial for the Brussels Journal, Tom Landen highlighted the danger in which certain politicians have placed themselves merely by criticizing Islam:

- Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch politician, lives in hiding following death threats from Islamists. Ali, who must live in hide-outs, initiated a proposal to establish “a European fund to protect people who are stalked by assassins for their opinions.” Only 144 of the 785 members of the European Parliament have supported this proposal.

- Geert Wilders, another politician whom radical Muslims want to assassinate, is the creator of the short film, Fitna, which criticizes Islam. As a result, several individuals and organizations have lodged complaints against Mr. Wilders “for incitement to racial hatred.” The Federation of Dutch Employers even ordered its lawyers to determine “whether it is possible to claim damages from Mr. Wilders for the loss of income which Dutch companies may possibly suffer as a result of a boycott of Dutch products by Muslims who are angry at Mr. Wilders and at the fact that the Dutch have not been able to shut him up.” Last year, a member of the board of Unilever admonished the Dutch people to “rise in order to stop Wilders” because “Geert Wilders is evil and evil has to be stopped.”

- On April 1, 2008, the Belgium government’s anti-discrimination body (CEOOR) “warned bloggers and websites to remove their links to Wilders’ movie,” and asked the Belgian people to be “vigilant” and to report “cases of incitement to hatred and/or discrimination.”

Let us return to Suzanne Winter, who is charged with “incitement and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation.” So, degradation of religious symbols is a crime in Austria? Now, that’s odd. For, in March of 2008, Vienna’s Dommuseum, the art gallery attached to the Cathedral of St. Stephen, began running an exhibition by self-avowed Marxist atheist, Alfred Hrdlicka, titled “Religion, Flesh and Power.” The main attraction of the exhibit was a rendition of the Last Supper as a homosexual orgy. Another piece depicted a Roman soldier fondling Christ during the flagellation.

Granted, the Last Supper piece was eventually removed at the request of Cardinal Schoenborn (as if it ever should have been there in the first place!) in what a spokesman for the Cardinal described as “an act of respect towards those believers who feel this portrayal offended and provoked them in their deepest religious sensitivity." Yes, you read it correctly – believers who “feel” that a homosexual orgy between Christ and the Apostles is offensive. God help us.

But, where was the Austrian government in all this? Where was all that self-righteous crowing over “incitement and degradation of religious symbols and religious agitation?” Tom Landen sums it up:

Today, the Justice Department in Vienna announced that [Suzanne] Winter will be charged with “incitement and degradation of religious symbols.” If convicted she may have to serve up to two years in jail for her opinions. However, Alfred Hrdlicka, the Austrian “artist” who depicted Jesus and his apostles engaging in homosexual acts of sodomy during the Last Supper, has not been indicted. Nor will he be. Depicting Jesus sodomizing his apostles is not considered to be a “degradation of religious symbols” in Austria, but referring to the historic fact that Muhammad married a six-year old girl is “incitement to racial hatred.”

Neither has Mr. Hrdlicka been threatened by Christian assassins for his “opinions.” The difference between Christian and Muslim extremists is that the former do not aim to kill those who offend them, but the latter do – which is perhaps also why the European authorities fear the radical Muslims and persecute their opponents while they subsidize those who insult Christians.

Approximately 5,000 Muslim women are murdered each year through “honor killings.” In Denmark, Muslims, who make up 4 % of the population, commit the majority of rapes, with practically all the victims being non-Muslim women. Some 90% of European mosques are run by pro-terror organizations (according to Sheikh Abdul Adid Palazzi, the director of the Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community). But who do the governments of Austria, Holland, Belgium, Canada, etc., go after as “public enemy number one”? Those who dare to speak out in defense of their nations.

In Europe, outspoken politicians must live precarious lives, lest they end up in a bloody heap like another critic of Islam, the brutally murdered Theo van Gogh. Yet, the European Parliament can not even see its way to fully support a fund to protect those public figures who are the targets of assassins. This is the same European Parliament (a directly-elected body of the European Union) that claims, “The 785 Members of the European Parliament are there to represent you, the citizen.”

Recall the words of Canadian writer and attorney Ezra Levant quoted in this column: “100% of the CHRC's [Canadian Human Rights Commission] targets have been white, Christian or conservative.” Interesting, eh? The sole surviving terrorist of the recent attacks in Mumbai admitted that he was instructed to “kill whites, especially British and American tourists” before taking hostages. Birds of a feather. Whenever they take a stand, it is against Catholics and Protestants, and for those who desire the ruin and subjugation of the West.

Unfortunately, the European Union is too busy trying to shove “same-sex marriage” down the throats of its members to worry about such quaint matters as “freedom” or attacks against the West. With such turncoat politicos in charge, what will the world look like in a century?

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