Persecution of Geert Wilders

For John, BLUF:  Not everyone understand free speech the way we do.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The People of the Netherlands vs Geert Wilders

That would be Dutch Prosecutors, going after Mr Geert Wilders for saying that Moroccans in the Netherlands should be removed.  The latest New York Times article, from today, is here.

The question is, does free speech give you the right to say bad things about other groups?  In the United States the answer is yes.  In Europe, perhaps not.

Law professor Althouse says:

Speaking about discrimination should be countered by speech against discrimination, and let people decide which is the better viewpoint.  The prosecution is relying on the argument that speech about discrimination is discrimination.  But anyone who smashes those 2 ideas together is quite simply rejecting the idea of free speech.

By the way, this quote, early in the blog post, captures part of the problem:

"His remarks touched the very being of this population group.  You cannot choose to be part of a population group or not; it’s a group that’s decided by birth, so it’s a whole different matter."

Why can not members of that population group elect to be atheists or Dutch Reform in their religious outlook?  A group which ensures people born into it adhere to its tenets through cohesion, perhaps even force, deserves to be questioned.  Catholics should be free to become Atheists, Jews become Christians, Atheists become Jews.♠

Hat tip to Ann Althouse.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Yes, I get the whole Mother thing, but still, you get the point and I wonder if someone would be refused entrance into the local synagogue over the faith and lineage of their Mother.