Wilders vs. Abu Ba'ashir

Sounds kinda like a "The Penguin vs The Green Goblin" comic book, doesn't it?

Wilders is a Dutch politician who fears that the West will be overrun by conservative Muslims. Abu Ba'ashir is an Indonesian cleric who fears that Indonesia will be overrun by bikini wearing, beer swilling Westerners.

Wilders says that new Muslim immigrants should be banned from the Netherlands (how about evangelical Americans too then?) and Ba'ashir says that Westerners in Indonesia should be beaten up (if not blown up).

At the core, their stance has nothing to do with East vs. West, it's a lot simpler than that, they are both racists.

I am still uncertain about where to draw the line of freedom of speech - obviously freedom of speech can be used to victimise others for example - but there's an important debate to be had and won. The debate is really about openness to ideas and peoples. Compare North to South Korea, Cuba to Brazil, The Soviet Union to the USA, Saudi Arabia to Dubai. Openness trumps closedness everytime.

It's a pity that political leaders in the Netherlands and Indonesia don't enjoin the debate, and face down these racist views head on.