March 28, 2008

The movie Fitna, recently released online by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders was criticized as "a clear case of Islamophobia" by Rev. Dr Shanta Premawardhana, director of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Programme on Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation. "Through graphic images the filmmaker depicts violent extremism without any attempt to distinguish it from mainstream Islam. Extremism is a problem for most religions and needs to be countered through interreligious dialogue," Premawardhana said.

Dutch church representatives have also voiced their criticism of the right-wing politician turned filmmaker, stressing that his views were opposed by most of the Dutch population, the ecumenical news-agency ENI reported (at http://eni.ch/) today.

Seeking to encourage churches to initiate such dialogues, particularly in the interreligious environment of Europe, the Central Committee of the WCC in February issued a "Minute on our religious imperative to foster sensitivity and reconciliation in shifting society." It encourages churches to "actively generate a climate of deep respect" that would lead communities "not only from hostility to peaceful co-existence, but also to celebrations of our common life."

The Central Committee's statement also calls upon religious leaders "to work towards reconciliation and healing"; and urges Christian leaders "to speak directly, consistently and self-critically to their own communities, holding them to the highest ethical standards of loving one's neighbour, and in extending a hand of reconciliation to communities other than one's own, whenever a community, its people and their beliefs have been attacked or insulted."

Full text of the WCC Central Committee Minute: http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5617.

World Council of Churches