Steve 41oo wrote:and what is the conclusion of this impressive array of statistics?
You mean mine? Cause I'm sure that 10 different people would come to 10 different conclusions... Thats why I think people's interpretations are often a lot less interesting than the actual data themselves. I mean, everyone can come up with some opinion.
But OK, sure - for whatever it's worth, my conclusion is that the Dutch are apparently a lot more sobre and level-headed than I'd given them credit for.
They're not buying the kind of hysteria Wilders is peddling. But they also dont want to prosecute him or ban his film or anything like that - let him say what he wants to say. But to be honest, they dont think much of it.
The findings just seem very middle or the road, commonsensical. The film isnt a fair portrayal of Islam, but it does portray an extremist minority. It's not particularly "truthful" and far from "intelligent", but it's also not outright "hateful," let alone "monstrous". Mostly it's just criticized in pragmatic terms, as a publicity stunt and copy/pastejob. They dont agree with it, but dont have a major problem with it having been produced either. On the wider subject, a narrow majority does think Islam is a threat to world peace, but few people think it poses a threat to them, personally - and a similar majority thinks Christianity has the same kind of fundamentalists. They dont think Muslims should make a big deal out of it, but also appreciatively noticed that Dutch Muslims didnt, in fact, make that big a deal out of it. All very moderate and reasonable.
Considering the huge centrifugal forces that have marked Dutch politics this last decade, ever strengthening the extremes and weakening the centre, that's all pretty reassuring.
