Netherlands: Christian youth fear Muslims

"Islam is a peaceful religion. Who agrees with that?" barely anybody does. In a meeting this weekend in Barneveld many Reformed Christian youth were afraid of "all those Muslims" who will "murder if they get power."

The fear of the unknown violent Muslim only increased Saturday evening among almost 700 Reformed youth. Breathlessly they listened to a heated debate between Islam critical Arabist Hans Jansen, Ayhan Tonca, CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal) member and former chairman of the Contact Organ Muslims and Government and SGP (Reformed Political Party) head Bas Van de Vlies.

A woman with darker, curled hair said to the crowd that she still thinks of the Biblical text that says foreigners will waste the land. "Really we are too late. Mosques sprout out from the ground, against our culture."

Van der Vlies nods in agreement and says that when he said Wilders' movie was stimulating and spurred to discussion, the entire country attacked him, but there were also people who agree. "You don't want to know how many people in The Hague, politically correct as they are, just watch the 750,000 moderate Muslims."

Among the calls to vigilance, because Muslims will in the end never respect Christians, and maintaining why the Bible is so much better than the Koran, there's one different note. A boy in a dark-blue shirt says it makes him think of discussion sites where opinions are hurled about without good knowledge, and that without dialog we would never get anywhere.

In reaction Jansen said that he doesn't think talking is a solution. "It's of the greatest importance that we stay vigilant, not listen to the nagging that Islam is a peaceful religion. That is not true."

Tonca: "I'm here for forty years now and know many Muslims who want their children to grow up in harmony. We Must get to know each other better." About thirty hands are raised to his question who is acquainted with Muslims. He says that as believers we must be open and go out from that we believe in one god who shows mercy. If Muslims will come to power, we won't really all need to put on masks and cut off everybody's head.

Tonca's words don't touch everybody. In the recess a nurse tells that her Muslim colleague, dead-serious, said he'll murder her if Muslims get to power. "They want to simply have us dead."

Source: Trouw (Dutch)