(if facebook or whatever reader isn’t showing the embedded video, find it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZyXkiQ-vn0 )

Geert Wilders, the Dutch far-Right MP, has demanded that his race hate trial should hear evidence from the fanatic who used the Koran to justify killing the director of an anti-Islamic film.

It marked an incendiary opening to the landmark case that has divided the Netherlands over the limits of freedom. Mr Wilders, 46, who is accused of incitement and discrimination, asked for 18 witnesses to be called in his defence, including Mohammed Bouyeri, the man who stabbed and shot Theo Van Gogh in an Amsterdam street in 2004.

The Van Gogh murder left a deep scar on the national conscience. It helped to change the mood of tolerance of Islam, and boosted Mr Wilders’s popularity.

Mr Wilders, whose Party for Freedom came second in the European elections last summer, faces a 70-page charge sheet covering five counts of breaking Dutch law in more than 100 public statements — for example, by likening the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and calling for an end to the “Islamic invasion”. He could be fined or jailed if convicted.

The alleged offences include Mr Wilders’s film Fitna, which shows images of 9/11 and beheadings interspersed with verses from the Koran. It ends with a clip of the controversial Danish cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.

At the opening day of the trial the prosecution objected to the request to hear from Bouyeri, and the panel of four judges adjourned until February 3 to consider which witnesses to call. “This case is about more than Mr Wilders,” Bram Moszkowicz, his lawyer, told the court. “It touches us all. It is such an important and principled question that could have far-reaching consequences.”

Mr Moszkowicz argued that the witnesses Mr Wilders wanted to call would prove that what he said was not simply inoffensive but true. He suggested that Bouyeri, a dual Moroccan-Dutch national, would be key to the case because he was a fervent Muslim who carried a Koran during his trial and defended his crime by claiming that Islam permitted violence against unbelievers.

And of course, now is a perfect time to repost FITNA, the short film he’s being tried for:

(direct link: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=216_1207467783 )

Related posts:

1. Harvard thinks I hate Buddhism, who am I to say they’re wrong?
2. HL Mencken on the first great evolution trial…

This is part of Harvard’s Project Implicit, a test that’s supposed to show actual biases for thinks like race, religion, etc. I took the race test a while back and it showed that I had a slight preference for Jews over other races. This religion bias test put Judaism a little below Christianity and Islam, but they’re clustered pretty close to the middle.

If Harvard only got on the ball and make these all Web 2.0 with Facebook links, they could probably gather 100 fold the number of online test takers. Though, this is supposed to be just a demo, soo…

Thank you for your participation. Your implicit association results, appearing to the right, are for entertainment and educational purposes only.

Religions closer to the top of the figure were more strongly associated with good than religions closer to the bottom of the figure. The ratings are relative, meaning that the good and bad religion ratings are in comparison to the other religions. In this display, the ones that are most positive (least negative) would appear toward the top and the ones that are most negative (least positive) would appear toward the bottom.

…snip…

One topic of particular interest is whether self-reported attitudes towards religions agree or disagree with implicit associations. Were yours consistent? If not, why might that be, and what consequence does it have? These are some of the questions we are addressing with on-going research.

Related posts:

1. I gave the wrong impression…
2. Geerts Gone Wild – Wilders’ Hate Crimes Trial
3. “…the Christian ideas of humility, of self-sacrifice and of brotherhood — are enemies of life…”