A few days ago Geert Wilders was interviewed in German by Der Spiegel. The PVV leader’s theme was “Merkel is Afraid”, and his words caused a bit of a stir in the German-language press. Today the English translation of the interview was published, and is now causing a stir in the English-language press.
I’ll include some lengthy excerpts in tonight’s news feed, but regular readers will not find anything surprising — what Mr. Wilders had to say is the same thing he has said numerous times in the past. It’s part of his consistent message: Islamic ideology is dangerous and damaging to Europe. European culture and civilization will be destroyed if immigration from Islamic countries is not stopped.
The interviewer’s tendentious questions were also par for the course. Der Spiegel laid the customary land mines for their guest: Why do you engage in religious and racial exclusion? Aren't you sometimes ashamed of the hatred that you sow? Are you serious about a “head rag tax”? Mr. Wilders handled these straw men with aplomb, but was also caught in a carefully-laid trap by the interviewer.
The trick that was pulled on Mr. Wilders was so low and dishonest that it is worth quoting. Here’s the exchange:
| SPIEGEL: | Are you familiar with this quote from the Prophet? “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slay them before me”? |
| Wilders: | I have read many such passages. |
| SPIEGEL: | The Prophet cited in this case was Jesus, from Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 27. Do you admit that there are also calls for violence in the Bible? |
If Mr. Wilders were more of a churchgoer, he might not have been so easily suckered. The quoted passage from Luke is actually taken from a “The Parable of the Ten Minas” as told by Jesus, and was spoken by one of the characters in the parable, not by Christ Himself.
Below is the entire parable, from Luke 19:11-27 (English Standard Version):
As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’
“But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business.
“The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’
“And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
“Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’
“He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’”
Not quite the same style as Mohammed, is it?
The Messenger of Allah was not one for allegory — the literal shedding of infidel blood was preferable by far, and he spilled copious amounts of it over his illustrious career.
But Jesus was making a somewhat different point — and “let all who have ears hear.”
And they say that we quote the Koran “out of context”!
The fact that a major media outlet can get away with something like this without being called on it is a sign of the degraded age in which we live. Der Spiegel is The New York Times of Germany, a highly respected organ of public opinion. To engage in such base dishonesty should lead to public condemnation and financial ruin, but of course nothing of the sort will happen. Business will continue as usual.
The parable of the minas is actually quite apropos to the case at hand. The editors of Der Spiegel were granted their own mina, but they have not invested it for a good return, nor did they even bother to wrap it up and hide it away. Instead they cast it with utter contempt upon the cultural dungheap.
For Der Spiegel — and for all the other MSM outfits who batten off their hubris until they attain the girth of Hermann Göring — I have a relevant verse from a different parable told by Jesus. And I’ll even provide the context for this one: it’s from the parable of the man who built his house upon the sand.
Matthew 7:27 (King James Version):
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
