The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)
Council of Churches: Fitna distorts Islam, 16 April 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: The Council of Churches Malaysia on Wednesday expressed concern over the release of the controversial movie Fitna made by Dutch Member of Parliament Geert Wilders.
“The film, which is now posted on the web, highly criticises Islam, setting verses from the Quran against a background of violent images from terrorist attacks. "Wilders is provocative in his comments on selective readings of the Quran and seeks to present a distorted portrayal of Islam as a violent religion," said CCM general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri. He said the CCM was in solidarity with the Council of Churches in Netherlands which had stated: “We strongly reject all contempt and slander aimed at the Quran and the Prophet Muhammed, just as we would not wish this with regard to the Bible and the Christian faith. We stress that Mr Wilders represents the vision of a small section of Dutch society. This vision is certainly not shared by the Dutch churches.”
Rev Dr Shastri said in a statement the 15-minute feature film had distorted the core spiritual values of Islam, which like Christianity did not advocate violence.
"The vast majority of Muslims reject extremism and violence, and those who advocate only serve to distort and misuse religion.
"The CCM joins the chorus of voices, within the Christianity fraternity and between inter-religious groups, to denounce hate language in media that seeks to pit one religion against the other.
"The primary task of religions is to promote freedom, justice and peace and all religious bodies have a sacred duty to build peace among human communities through dialogue to achieve the goal of peaceful co-existence.
"The CCM appeals to all nations to exercise self-restrain in order not to dislodge the good relations built up over the years inter religious relations."
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