Dutch churches condemn 'Fitna' as anti-Islamic film

The churches were reacting to "Fitna" ("Strife") by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. The film was posted on the Internet March 27.

OXFORD, England (CNS) - Churches in the Netherlands have condemned a Dutch politician's anti-Islamic film.

"The image this film conjures up is one-sided and provocative," the Dutch Council of Churches said in a statement March 28.

"Our churches believe society cannot be directed by fear," the statement said. "If problems exist between the various groups ... they should be settled only through joint dialogue."

The churches were reacting to "Fitna" ("Strife") by Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. The film was posted on the Internet March 27 after Dutch television channels refused to screen it.

It said criticism of religious customs should be permitted in the form of "mutual conversation," but added that the film contained an "unmerited caricature of Islam."

"Our churches know the horror of violence and reject terrorism in any form," said the council, whose 12 member churches include Catholics, Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox.

"But they also believe a deep analysis of the current political situation in various countries should prompt greater dialogue with Islam. Priority should be given to solidarity, not hostility, between nations," the council said.

The 15-minute film, released on a video-sharing Web site after weeks of heated debate, mixes images of the Prophet Mohammed and the Quran with pictures of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as attacks on U.S. soldiers in Somalia and beheadings in Iraq.

Wilders, whose party holds nine seats in the 225-member Dutch parliament, told newspapers the film showed the Quran was "an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror."

Jan Gruiters, head of the Dutch branch of the Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, said in a March 29 statement "Fitna" showed "remarkable similarities with ideological propaganda by extremist movements" and would serve as an "ideal recruitment film for violent extremists."

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Dutch bishops' conference, Bishop Adrianus van Luyn of Rotterdam, told a radio interviewer March 28 the film "polarizes, discriminates and generalizes" by suggesting there is "something wrong with Islam as a whole."

Dutch newspapers said Wilders, 44, who has previously campaigned against Islamicization in Europe, had been under police protection since the November 2004 killing of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim militant for another film criticizing Islam.

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