Bret Stephens: Geert Wilders Is a Test for Western Civilization

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123483168531395775.html

It is well worth the time to read this oped piece. Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who has called for the banning of the Quran and who is being prosecuted for hate crimes in his home country.

Highlights:

For liberals, the issue is straightforward. If routine mockery of Christianity and abuse of its symbols, both in the U.S. and Europe, is protected speech, why shouldn't the same standard apply to the mockery of Islam? And if the difference in these cases is that mockery of Islam has the tendency to lead to riots, death threats and murder, should committed Christians now seek a kind of parity with Islamists by resorting to violent tactics to express their sense of religious injury?

For conservatives, especially of the cultural kind -- the kind of people who talk about defending Western Civ. -- Mr. Wilders's case should also provoke some reconsiderations. It may not be impossible to denounce the likes of Mr. Serrano [the artist who, 20 years ago, put a crucifix in a jar of urine] while defending the likes of Mr. Wilders. But a defense of Mr. Wilders is made a lot easier if one can point to the vivid difference between a civilization that protects, even celebrates (and funds!), its cultural provocateurs and a civilization that seeks their murder.