Letters From A Tory

Looks like Geert Wilders has been censored thanks to threats from faceless religious extremists (otherwise known as ‘cowards’) after all.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d9_1206624103

Place your bets now on whether any British or European politician will stand up for freedom of speech and criticise these sickos.

Dear Geert Wilders,

No doubt you have noticed the panic in the eyes of many Dutch and European politicians at the release of your film on Islam.  Many authorities are bracing themselves for protests now that your film is available.  The question in many people’s minds is should the film have been released - and the answer is simple: yes, absolutely.

I remember the tragic silence that followed the death of Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker killed by a Muslim gunman over the film he made.  Most politicians were too afraid to even be seen in front of the cameras, as they feared that should they speak out in the defence of Mr Van Gogh, they would become the next target.  Even the outrage from politicians in the UK was notable by its absence.  Nobody stood up for freedom of speech, even though to my mind it is one of the most fundamental parts of English and European culture.  People cowered in fear rather than rising up against the disgusting attack on Western values.  Now, you are standing up for freedom of speech and you have my total support.  The only time when I think free speech should be questioned is when violence is incited against an individual or group, but your film does no such thing.  Of course it presents a wholly partisan perspective, but what’s wrong with that?  I assume that you have done your research on the issues that you touched on and have gained some fascinating footage, which makes your film more of a documentary - albeit a controversial one - than anything else.

Thank you for standing up for your beliefs and refusing to be silenced by the cowards who fail to confront the continued assault on freedom of speech from a number of religious groups over the past few years.

Yours sincerely,

A.Tory

HERE IS THE SHORT FILM THAT GEERT WILDERS HAS MADE ON ISLAM, WHICH IS CALLED ‘FITNA’:

For those of you who believe in freedom of speech, log in to Facebook and paste this link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7409739342&ref=nf

Dear Oxford University,

No doubt you are feeling a little bruised after the media mauling you have received over the last few days over your decision to let David Irving and Nick Griffin appear at the Oxford Union in a debate on freedom of speech.  I am not surprised nor sympathetic on this matter.

I think a lot of people underestimate the important role that freedom of speech plays in this country (see ‘Why I write this blog’).  I see it as a core value in the UK and our government has let down the entire nation and everything we stand for by passing laws against freedom of speech, such as making it a criminal offence to make anti-homosexual remarks.  It will therefore come as no surprise that I genuinely believe that David Irving and Nick Griffin are fully entitled to their views and they should not be banned or censored unless they go as far as inciting violence against other people (which the BNP has come very close to in the past).

Consequently, one would be forgiven for thinking that I would welcome their appearance at the Oxford Union, but I don’t.  There is a big difference between letting someone have an opinion, and giving them a famous platform on which to share it.  Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, labelled your actions as “juvenile provocation” and I completely agree with him.  Inviting controversial figures is fine with me but why pick people who have nothing useful to contribute to a debate, seeing as their views are more the result of attention-seeking than a collection of rational and empirical evidence?

Yours in bemusement,

A.Tory