Geert Wilders: "Islam is not a religion but an ideology"

Geert Wilders, the Dutch Islamophobe who believes Islam is evil, said:

"I view Islam not as a religion, but as a dangerous, totalitarian ideology - equal to communism and fascism. Aren't I allowed to say so?"

Since he has indeed said so, it falls to non-Islamophobes to deconstruct his statement.

The fact is that all religion is but ideology. It is a distinction without a difference, and made to appear profound by those who believe there to be a difference because they are two different words.

The Koran - a work of genius - has a verse for every situation advocating both sides of the argument, eg peace or war, forgiveness or punishment.

If Man is both good and evil, then it follows that his interpretation of God's Word will be done to suit his purpose, which may be good or evil.

As for Islam's alleged totalitarianism, this is a danger any ideology is vulnerable to. After all, all anti-discrimination legislation is in fact totalitarian, because it forbids us from acting as we would wish and infringes our freedom of association and contract. There are many who would now argue that feminism and PC-liberalism are in fact totalitarian.

Wilders is also concerned that Islam is political.

But of course it is, since every moral decision we make is in fact political, eg whether we speak up or shut up on any matter likely to upset someone, when we are with friends, family, employers, customers, and anyone at all with the power to help or hinder us.

In short, Wilders' claim that Islam has the potential to become (or is already) totalitarian should not be greeted with the shock and horror that it is now being received, but with a shrug of the shoulders.

Wilders is saying nothing new. All the things that we do and say and all ideologies have the potential to be wrong, foolish, evil and destructive.

We lose our liberty when we prefer unquestioning obedience to the cultivation of a questioning mind.

We lose our liberty when we choose not to question in order to be safe.

We keep our liberty when our political system encourages us to ask questions and receive proper answers.

We lose it when we choose not to offended and impose censorship on those who would offend us.

As I have said many times before, a one-party state or an Islamic state need not be totalitarian. In fact, it is less likely to be totalitarian if we take the teleological approach to God.

Why did Man create God?

To comfort him and to keep him safe from fear and harm.

By always asking ourselves what evil a verse of the Koran is intended to forbid, or what good it is intended to enjoin, we will be more likely to use wisely this excellent book for the guidance of humanity.

If being Muslim means attaining the peace of submitting to God, and that God is but Truth, Reality, Knowledge and Reason tempered with Mercy, then what is there not to like about Islam? I speak as an atheist believing that it is not in fact necessary to believe in God to be a good Muslim.

If the Islam we in the West see is not to our liking, then it is perhaps time for the West to seize the initiative, and appropriate the Koran in order to serve ourselves better.

Religion comes from the word "religare", the Latin of "to bind", to keep together a society that will always have a tendency to fragment and disintegrate, men (and women) being what they are and always will be.

Society will always need its adhesive, and for this reason God - the most powerful being Man could imagine - will always be used for political purposes.

It is invariably Christians who cannot accept or understand this truth, crippled by their knowledge of this meaningless statement Christ gave the Roman authorities to get himself out of trouble: "I render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and God that what is God's."

In contrast to this unconscionable separation, the Holy Trinity of Religion, Politics and Morality is implicitly acknowledged in the Koran.

It is only Christian Hypocrisy that denies this Truth.

If Muslims are perceived as primitive, dangerous and fanatical, it is only because they have distorted their religion and allowed it to be perverted to suit the purpose of their leaders, who are themselves corrupt, ignorant and mistaken.

If it were not for the fact that the West has lost its own sense of self-belief, it would seize this excellent book and use it for its own benefit, in a manner more creative, progressive and liberal (in the best sense of that word) than the ones who were born into this faith.