After Fitna , New Movie Schism ?

I was checking out Malaysiakini and chanced upon a shocking blog entry.

Reading the blog, I proceed immediately googled for the movie. I found the 9 minutes plus movie titled Schism in Youtube . Spiegel Online International reports Saudi Blogger Releases Christian Version of 'Fitna' .

Accordingly, Schism is the reply to the movie Fitna. For those seeking more information on Fitna, I have posted an entry before, titled Controversial Fitna and The Boycott on Dutch . Geert Wilders' Fitna sparked a massive outcry worldwide. There were demonstrations and call for boycotts on Dutch products in Islamic nations. It is ironic that I have to thank God because Malaysian Muslims are more civil in voicing their dissatisfaction.

The author of Schism is Raed Al-Saeed. In the same fashion of Fitna, the movie quotes the Bible text instead of Quran. The verses are then related with scenes of violence. Among the things mentioned are the Srebrenica incident , Ku Klux Klan , the Jonestown massive death tragedy in Guyana and boys being beaten by soldiers. The most prominent feature is a female speaking in TV comparing "Islamic terrorists with Nazi war-machines". Immediately, an old clip depicted Nazi troops reciting "I Swear By God this holy oath" is shown.

Towards the end, the screen image describes: "It is easy to take parts of any Holy (sic) book that are out of content (sic) and make it sound like the most inhuman book ever written. That is what Geert Wilders did to gather more supporters to his hateful ideology. To create schism". The images of this movie is as disturbing as Fitna's

There are a few things going on my mind after watching Schism :

1) If this movie is created by a Saudi blogger, would Malaysian officials or/and Malaysian Muslim common citizens call for a boycott on Saudi goods in the fashion of calling for a boycott on Dutch goods after Fitna ?

2) Will Christians respond to this criticism by launching big demonstrations worldwide in the fashion of certain Islamic nations after Fitna ?

3) Will Christians condemn this movie as a misrepresentation of Christianity and the people who promoted violence in it?

I hope there will be no boycotts and demonstrations and I advise those who plan to do so to drop the plans. I shall be posting another entry on my opinion and related observation on both movies.

P.S. Wondering when will others start posting movies on Buddhism, Taoism, the Jewish religion and Hinduism. That would certainly be interesting... Is that an evil thought? Well, that really depends on each individual's perspective. All religious institutions, no matter how supreme one thinks it is, must not be free from criticism.

Controversial Fitna and The Boycott on Dutch

Worldfutures.info published Mahathir: Boycott Dutch products but what not Coca Cola . Malaysia Today republished it with comments from its readers. Malaysiakini should have its own entry as well.

Accordingly, our ex-Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir called for a boycott on Dutch / Netherlands products in protest over the film titled Fitna .

For those not in the know, Fitna is created by Dutch legislator Geert Wilders. It is a 15 minutes short movie that cited verses from Quran, matching them with video clips of shocking statements from radical clerics. Furthermore, among the images being displayed are the Sept 11 attack on the United States, the 2004 commuter train bombings in Spain and the murder later that year of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh on an Amsterdam street. Related controversial headlines of newspaper cuttings from European nations are in the film as well.

For more information on the movie, please visit the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitna_(film) in wikipedia.

It is not a movie for the faint-hearted and certainly it does not do justice for Islam as a possible religion of peace. However, bear in mind that the images and speeches are real. It should not be dismissed that certain Dutch people may be concerned with what is happening around the world concerning certain (not all) practitioners of Islam.

I think calling for boycott of this movie and Dutch products will not bring in any good results. It is as if subconsciously "indirectly" giving support to the film. I personally think it is not the problem with the religion Islam. It is the actions of certain (not all) Muslims that should not be agreed upon.

I think the Muslims should condemn this movie and casting it as a misrepresentation of Islam. Certain people preaching in the video who called for any form of violence should be condemned as well.

I think using this method, the religion's way can be made to be understood better.

In my opinion, any form of religion has its share of violent content and means to justify or achieve certain ends. If you choose peace, you get peace. Violence begets violence.

It is not only Malaysia that needs change. The method of Muslims on handling such criticism should change as well. It may be a long journey but perhaps it is high time to start now.