"Schism" vs. "Fitna"
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In response to Geert Wilders anti-Quran movie “Fitna”, several movies have been created displaying the bible as a work inciting violence which use the same methods as Wilders uses against Islam. However, their goal is not to inflame hatred against Christianity, but to reveal the manipulations affected by “Fitna”.
By Ulrich Schwerin, translated by TM Stapf, 16th of April, 2008-04-20
“This is what the Lord Almight says: Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them: Put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” This call for annihilation from the Old Testament book of Samuel marks the beginning of the short film “Schism.” It juxtaposes some of the most blood-thirsty quotes from the bible with images of the American bombing raids on Iraq. Finally it culminates in the quote of Zitat George W. Bush’s call for a crusade against terror.
At first, Saudi blogger Raid Al-Saeed appears to present the bible as a handbook for war crimes in his six-minute short, available online since the beginning of April. However, the movie, which allegedly was put together by its 33-year old creator within 24 hours, is not a call for hatred. Instead, it is supposed to show how easy manipulation really is. Thus the movie concludes with the words, ‘it’s so easy to take parts of a holy book out of context in order to present it as a beastly writ.’
It’s crap. Admit. Just like Wilder’s movie.
This has not been the only online reaction to anti-Quran movie “Fitna” by the Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders. Searching for the title “Schism – The English Version” leads you to a nine-minute short, showing the graveyards of Srebrenica, crucifixion scenes during a Christian procession, a bomb attack on a funeral service in Northern Ireland and the field of corpses after the mass-suicide of a Christian sect in Guyana.
Also here the goal is not, to portray Christianity as a fanatical, bloodthirsty religion. The movie ends with the pledge not to take any offense. It denounces itself as ‘crap – just like Wilder’s movie.’ The movie took its maker 12 hours to create, Wilders took 3 months for his. A Sura from the Quran ends the movie: “If God willed, he would have made you one nation, but that may test you in what he has given you, so strive as in a race of good deeds.”
A trail of blood also exists in the Bible
In internet-forums the movies are met with rejection as illegitimate equation of the two faiths, as the portrayed acts of violence had no link with Christianity. On the other hand they are welcomed as well-done deconstruction of Wilder’s anti-Islamic agitation. In fact the movies demonstrate how easy it is to take sentences and pictures out of context, in order to create a connection that does not really exist. They also show however, that both the Bible and the Quran are marked by a trail of blood.
The Old Testament is full of murder, war and violence, and even the New Testament contains many a part that is consciously omitted from citation. Christianity has learned to ignore these calls for hate and violence. Should this not be the goal for Islam as well? Instead of constantly charging Muslims with the discriminatory and violent nature of the Quran, it would be a lot better, to support them in a more selective view of their holy book.