Holy smoke! They’ve made a Bible version of ‘Fitna’

By Helen Ang

 

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Fitna is divisive. And the answer to it by some Muslims is to have more of the same – one Saudi blogger calling himself Raed AlSaeed replies with Schism, subtitled ‘the Bible version of Fitna’.

 

Muslims elsewhere have other similar projects in the pipeline. However, I trust that Raed et al will have no need to go into hiding unlike Geert Wilders & Co. (Theo Van Gogh stabbed to death and Ayaan Hirsi Ali requiring security protection around the clock).

 

Schism mirrors Fitna in culling what its fan base call ‘hate-sowing verses’ from the holy book of the Christians, and juxtaposing these excerpts against the video-maker’s selected footage. I see one difference though; I can’t recall any Christian man, woman or duped child today bombing innocent people to the cry of “Jesus is great!” and justifying his action as pleasing to Christ.

 

I don’t see either there being riots, marches to Saudi embassies, Saudi flags aflame, AlSaeed’s effigy afire or holy smoke billowing from enraged Christian nostrils around the world.

But there’s no doubt however that Schism is burning hot on YouTube. When I wrote this post, the clip had garnered about 77,000 views, and now as I’m giving my copy a last check, the number of views has doubled to 150,000.

Doubtless it was Fitna started this round of tit-for-tat. But if its release could not be controlled – with the Netherlands court ruling that Wilders’ visual collage does not incite hatred nor break any law – couldn’t reaction to the provocation have avoided helping the Dutch Parliamentarian prove his point?

Just as the Muslim knee-jerk is pro forma, so too are the platitudes attendant … blabber, blah-blah and bullshit. Reading certain copious comments here in response to Haris’ Fitna mini-series, one realises there are some wannabe gurus getting their faux saffron robe and knickers in a twist, desperately trying to cross-conceptualise what real people of the faith refuse to practice.

Wilders sourced material for Fitna from news broadcasts; and his beheading and execution sequences had been uploaded on websites by the Muslim perpetrators themselves or linked organisations. Nothing fictional, and it is also real enough that many do get off from putting up Schism kissin’ cousins (yes, there are consanguineous clips) on the Internet.  

 

Islam’s image problem is real too. The Denial Syndrome that plagues the ummah is not alleviated by self-censoring Malaysian newspapers. Non-Muslim editors tiptoe even more gingerly on eggshells than do their Muslim counterparts when it comes to publishing opinion touching however obliquely on the religion of the Federation.

 

The in-denial is further exacerbated and perpetuated by such predictable 2-sen worth as given by MSM and blogosphere non-Muslim readerships pandering to the hypocrisy of piety. (Read Hartal MSM statement on the Malaysian media climate post-March 8 http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/81235)

 

It was realisation of the pressing need to be rid of pious hypocrites in their midst that sparked German monk Martin Luther’s Reformation and opened the long road for Christian Renaissance to its Age of Reason.

 

The problem with Malaysia is that we’ve got too many woolly talking heads – politicians and lalang writers who choose to take the wind of public opinion instead of shaping it – and preferring to play to the gallery rather than look at issues with stark clarity, as unpopular as the latter course usually is.

 

I’ve been cognisant of Haris’ strong Islam-as-I-say-tion views since before he started The People’s Parliament, and his going where angels fear to tread.

 

 So I hope he will be willing to mine whatever cache he’s gained in au currant cyberspace to push the envelope on contentious issues with the unflinching honesty needful. Otherwise we remain mired in crowd-pleasing-going-nowhere when we only encourage the sort of public discussion that takes the popularity road. This path will not get us out of our religious quagmire.