Submission/Fitna

Disclaimer: I think that both of these films made interesting and valid points, though I do not necessarily agree with their message as a whole.

The most remarkable parts of Fitna to me were the use of verses from the Qu'ran that generally spoke on "overcoming the infidels," etc. (paraphrased, obviously). Doing something like this is hard to do in a balanced way. I noticed that most of the verses were from one book in the Qu'ran. It's almost like taking all of the verses in Leviticus that say strange things and repeating them over and over again. However, I do not feel like they are taken out of context, except that there are obviously many other verses about many other topics in the scriptures that aren't mentioned in the film.

Additionally, a selection like the one in Fitna presents a one-sided view. There are many Muslims in the Netherlands who are living peacefully. It is so easy to focus on the radical minority, while totally ignoring or mislableling 99% of the population that does not share those radical views. On the other hand, Islam does have a worldwide pattern of subjugation of women and other minority groups. The concerns that Fitna raises cannot be ignored or totally written off, but fighting intolerance with intolerance does not make anything better. It is especially ironic how the intolerance of Muslims is proposed by a "tolerant" Dutch politician.

Again, in Submission, the points about oppression of women are raised. It again is hard to judge the film because it does have an obvious bias. But, how can we, as onlookers, learn and understand about a culture that is not our own? It is much more complicated than the views put forth by these films. There are oppressed minorities within the communities, but we're certainly not ones to judge.