Switzerland About To Vote On Minaret Ban

[AlexanderSextus]

All i have to say about this is "WHAT THE HELL?"

There are plenty of mosques and minarets here in the US of A and even our intolerant population isnt trying to get rid of them.

Europeans are nuts sometimes.

[Lemur]

I haven't seen anyone post a confirmation with a real link, so here's a little something:

Swiss ban mosque minarets

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly approved a ban on minarets, barring construction of the iconic mosque towers in a backlash against a growing Muslim population. [...]

The initiative was approved 57.5 to 42.5 percent by some 2.67 million voters. Only four of the 26 cantons or states opposed the initiative, granting the double approval that makes it part of the Swiss constitution.

Muslims comprise about 6 percent of Switzerland's 7.5 million people. Many are refugees from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and about one in 10 actively practices their religion, the government says.

The country's four standing minarets, which won't be affected by the ban, do not traditionally broadcast the call to prayer outside their own buildings.

[Subotan]

How can you compare McDonalds to Mosques? That's just ignorant.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Well, they both begin with an M, so I guess it depends on what you worship...

[Subotan]

Ronald McDonald, pbuh.

[Louis VI the Fat]

How can you compare McDonalds to Mosques? That's just ignorant.

On the interwebs, ignorant usually means that somebody did not take the time or put in the effort to understand what was said.


Here is a McDonalds in Switzerland's capital. Note how it has been asked to blend into its suroundings, without any consicuous signage or arch:




McDonalds, without this integration into its surroundings, would be considered to infringe upon Swiss culture. It is asked to integrate. To a large extent, the same holds true for this referendum. Mosques can be build at will. But not with large minarets.

Which begs the question - why the separate status for mosques? Why, as soon as somebody cries religion, must all other considerations be brushed aside? Why should secular society be forced to immediately step aside for anything anybody calls religion?
That is not freedom of religion, that is religion claiming supreme status.


Me, I am religious about food. I worship by sacrificing Big Macs on thursdays. Therefore, I demand American immigrants in Switzerland must have the right to build huge arches for their temples of food!

[Quid]

On the interwebs, ignorant usually means that somebody did not take the time or put in the effort to understand what was said.


Here is a McDonalds in Switzerland's capital. Note how it has been asked to blend into its suroundings, without any consicuous signage or arch:




McDonalds, without this integration into its surroundings, would be considered to infringe upon Swiss culture. It is asked to integrate. To a large extent, the same holds true for this referendum. Mosques can be build at will. But not with large minarets.

Which begs the question - why the separate status for mosques? Why, as soon as somebody cries religion, must all other considerations be brushed aside? Why should secular society be forced to immediately step aside for anything anybody calls religion?
That is not freedom of religion, that is religion claiming supreme status.


Me, I am religious about food. I worship by sacrificing Big Macs on thursdays. Therefore, I demand American immigrants in Switzerland must have the right to build huge arches for their temples of food!

My point I was trying to make in a much more sound and eloquent way.

Quid

[Furunculus]

hannan on helvetica:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...the-wrong-way/

Switzerland bans minarets: long live referendums, even when they go the wrong way

By Daniel Hannan Politics Last updated: November 29th, 2009

I am a paid-up fan of Swiss direct democracy. But no system is flawless, and referendums occasionally throw up silly answers. The decision by Swiss voters to outlaw the construction of minarets strikes me as regrettable on three grounds.

First, it is at odds with that other guiding Swiss principle, localism: issues of this kind ought surely to be settled town by town, or at least canton by canton, not by a national ban.

Second, it is disproportionate. There may be arguments against the erection of a particular minaret by a particular mosque – but to drag a constitutional amendment into the field of planning law is using a pneumatic drill to crack a nut.

Third, it suggests that Western democracies have a problem, not with jihadi fruitcakes, but with Muslims per se – which is, of course, precisely the argument of the jihadi fruitcakes.

I’m afraid that opponents of referendums will seize on this result in support of their argument that direct democracy gives free rein to bigotry. But we Helvetophiles don’t argue that referendums will always produce the right outcome; our argument, rather, is that direct democracy tends, over time, to make for a better-run country, a more limited government, a freer people and more engaged electorate. In support of these propositions, we point to Switzerland’s GDP, its turnout rates and the declared satisfaction of its citizenry.

Referendums will sometimes, as on this occasion, alienate a minority. Party politics, by contrast, regularly alienates the majority. No system of government on this sublunary plane is perfect. But I’d gladly swap Switzerland’s problems for ours.

[ICantSpellDawg]

hannan on helvetica:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/da...the-wrong-way/

Interesting

[Fragony]

All i have to say about this is "WHAT THE HELL?"

There are plenty of mosques and minarets here in the US of A and even our intolerant population isnt trying to get rid of them.

Europeans are nuts sometimes.

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/7209...s_minaret.html

[ICantSpellDawg]

http://www.dumpert.nl/mediabase/7209...s_minaret.html

I like the first quote "winning hearts and minds, meet yihaaa"

[HoreTore]

I like the first quote "winning hearts and minds, meet yihaaa"

Is anyone still wondering why the US has failed in Iraq and Afghanistan?

[Kralizec]

I don't think it's fair to paint off the majority of Swiss as racists. Ultimately, a minaret is just a feature of a building. Some probably voted for the ban because they think minarets don't match the surrounding architecture.

What was the wording of the referendum, anyway?