Geert Wilders

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician perhaps best known for some controversial stances vis-a-vis Islam. He’s currently on trial for “incitement to hatred and discrimination”.

Frankly, I don’t think that should be a crime. Hatred and discrimination may be unlovely, but they are part of the human condition; as a society we “hate” genocidal lunatics, and we discriminate against criminals by, e.g., putting them in jail and denying them the vote. Arguments over who to hate and how to discriminate are essential to a democracy. Or, to put it another way, many vital arguments can be cast as “incitements to hatred and discrimination” by those who would otherwise lose them.

I recognize the right of the people of the Netherlands to live under whatever laws they please. I will say only that I would not want to live under a regime that criminalizes the advocacy of the defense of Western culture, even when such advocacy runs to calls for policies that may be ill-advised.