No new minarets in Switzerland ?

[The Alma Mater]

It seems the Swiss will (or perhaps already have) decide that no new minarets - those towers next to mosques - can be erected in Switzerland. The idea is to stop the "Islamification of Europe". Switzerland currently has only four minarets in the entire country according to the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385069.stm

So.. what does NSG think ? Good or bad move ? Should we offer every religion the place of worship they want, or are restrictions like this acceptable ?
Personally I am undecided sofar...

[United Russian State]

Neutral. I don't think this does much of anything, expect piss off people.

[EvilDarkMagicians]

I think it is 'acceptable' if the country is predominantly Christian or is a Christian country.

[Benzei]

All countries should just have their own culture and own religion, Mixing never works

[SaintB]

No its not acceptable. If Christians want to worship in stone buildings resembling castles, Muslims want to worship in Minarets, and Wall Street Bankers want to worship in massive buildings made of glass and steel they should be allowed to. Unless the Swiss Government can prove they are dangerous according to their building codes this idea is despicable.

[Tagmatium]

"But a minaret is a political symbol. It is a symbol for introducing, step-by-step, Sharia rights also in Switzerland, parallel to the Swiss law which is a result of Swiss democracy. And this is the problem. It is nothing against Muslims.

From the same BBC article.

It seems rather bizarre that these people are truly worried about the spread of Sharia law. Anything short of a massive political shake-up won't see the introduction of such law, no matter how much the local Muslims (and, in all likelihood, just a tiny minority of them intent on being bigots) bitch and whine about how they want it introduced.

I can't really see it as anything but scaremongering by those who wish to paint Muslims as nothing other than insidious Borg-alikes who swarm over to a country and change it from the inside out. It's just irrational, xenophobic fearmongering by right-wing politicians who have more to gain over making a scapegoat out of these people.

And the "nothing against Muslims" part is just delusional, since they're banning the Muslim equivalent of the church steeple.

[Hamilay]

Wow this is tyranny.

Whether you hate Islam or not is irrelevant, presumably these mosques are private property and as such people have the right to build whatever they like on them, building codes excluded.

[SaintB]

"But a minaret is a political symbol. It is a symbol for introducing, step-by-step, Sharia rights also in Switzerland, parallel to the Swiss law which is a result of Swiss democracy. And this is the problem. It is nothing against Muslims.

From the same BBC article.

It seems rather bizarre that these people are truly worried about the spread of Sharia law. Anything short of a massive political shake-up won't see the introduction of such law, no matter how much the local Muslims (and, in all likelihood, just a tiny minority of them intent on being bigots) bitch and whine about how they want it introduced.

I can't really see it as anything but scaremongering by those who wish to paint Muslims as nothing other than insidious Borg-alikes who swarm over to a country and change it from the inside out. It's just irrational, xenophobic fearmongering by right-wing politicians who have more to gain over making a scapegoat out of these people.

And the "nothing against Muslims" part is just delusional, since they're banning the Muslim equivalent of the church steeple.

Maybe they are afraid too many minarets will make them WANT to pass Sharia law?

[Tagmatium]

Maybe they are afraid too many minarets will make them WANT to pass Sharia law?

Presumably using mind-control devices hidden at the tops of the minarets.

[The Alma Mater]

Maybe they are afraid too many minarets will make them WANT to pass Sharia law?

Presumably using mind-control devices hidden at the tops of the minarets.

Those calls to prayer go straight into the subconcious *nod*.

[SaintB]

Maybe they are afraid too many minarets will make them WANT to pass Sharia law?

Presumably using mind-control devices hidden at the tops of the minarets.

Exactly!

[Tagmatium]

Maybe they are afraid too many minarets will make them WANT to pass Sharia law?

Presumably using mind-control devices hidden at the tops of the minarets.

Those calls to prayer go straight into the subconcious *nod*.

Admittedly Muslims make up a large portion of the total Swiss population, but the idea that this is the start of the spread of Sharia law and Islamification just strikes me as fanciful. There would have to be a majority of Muslims in Switzerland to force the government into inacting Sharia, and at this rate I couldn't blame Muslims if they decided to get out of such a bigotted country.

I'd imagine there could be issues over noise, but no more than living next to a church, probably even less - at least minarets don't have clocks in them with fuck-off bells.

[Plague Kittens]

First the vote has not happened yet:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11 ... index.html

Second, the OP is calling this one a little early from the polls:

Some polls taken ahead of the referendum showed that as much as 51 percent of the population was against any kind of ban. But support for a ban has been growing, the polls found.

and third, look who is proposing:

The move to amend the constitution to ban new construction is part of a campaign by the nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP).
...
The SVP has courted controversy with its campaigns in the past. In 2007, it faced international criticism for leading an anti-immigration campaign during the federal election that featured a poster with a white sheep kicking a black sheep off a Swiss flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_People's_Party

It is there own GOP

[Phenia]

It seems the Swiss will (or perhaps already have) decided that no new minarets - those towers next to mosques - can be erected in Switzerland. The idea is to stop the "Islamifaction of Europe". Switzerland currently has only four minarets in the entire country according to the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8385069.stm

So.. what does NSG think ? Good or bad move ? Should we offer every religion the place of worship they want, or are restrictions like this acceptable ?
Personally I am undecided sofar...

This is completely unacceptable and motivated purely by anti-Islamic bigotry. It's really quite saddening to see how religious intolerance and persecution of religious/ethnic minorities in Europe is becoming politically correct again.

Ask yourself, it they wanted to stop Jews from building temples to stop the "Jewification of Europe," would that be considered racist, inappropriate, bigoted or irrational?

[Nation of Quebec]

No its not acceptable. If Christians want to worship in stone buildings resembling castles, Muslims want to worship in Minarets, and Wall Street Bankers want to worship in massive buildings made of glass and steel they should be allowed to. Unless the Swiss Government can prove they are dangerous according to their building codes this idea is despicable.

^This. My guess that this move was spearheaded by bigoted Islamophobes. Nobody's telling where Christians or Jews where to worship so it's completely bigoted not to grant Muslims the same right.

[North Avayu]

It's absolutely not acceptable. It's typical SVP scaremongering. Those people are populist bigots of the finest sort. The posters they have produced on this issue are painting the minarets like rockets, trying to associate them with terrorism. I think they even made a game where you shoot minarets popping up in front of a Swiss landscape. Now tell me those people don't have a problem with Islam.

On the matter itself, I see no reason why minarets should be banned. It would be acceptable if all religious buildings would be banned, or if local towns ban special buildings on special places because they don't fit to the local bulding code. But banning them altogether is unacceptable.
If you want to stop the "Islamification", then why would you want to take them out of the public, to the backyards where nobody is able to hear what the (radical) mullah has to say about discrimination against Muslims and why they have to fight back?

[Phenia]

No its not acceptable. If Christians want to worship in stone buildings resembling castles, Muslims want to worship in Minarets, and Wall Street Bankers want to worship in massive buildings made of glass and steel they should be allowed to. Unless the Swiss Government can prove they are dangerous according to their building codes this idea is despicable.

^This. My guess that this move was spearheaded by bigoted Islamophobes. Nobody's telling where Christians or Jews where to worship so it's completely bigoted not to grant Muslims the same right.

It's the same sort of thing as Proposition 8. The bigots spearhead some big movement to "stop" some sort of "attack" -- as if four minarets is going to just fucking kill all of Switzerland, or as if legalized gay marriage would create an artificial black hole that swallows all the Earth.

They just LOVE their martyr complex. "Stopping the Islamification of Europe" sounds a lot better than "Persecuting Muslims." Sounds noble, even. Sounds like they're the brave underdogs heroically protecting the Fatherland from the enemy lurking within. Same thing with "protecting traditional marriage" or "Protecting California children." Makes it sound a whole lot better than "Not letting fags get married, lol."

[Ifreann]

Ah yes, the SVP. As I recall their campaign posters from last year or so featured 4 white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag. Wonder what their agenda might be?

[Macindia]

It's disgusting and xenophobic. Christianity isn't from Europe, either! I could go on but I am feeling too lazy to type something original and insightful about this. Sorry folks

[Zeppy]

Ah yes, the SVP. As I recall their campaign posters from last year or so featured 4 white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag. Wonder what their agenda might be?

Same poster as the NPD from Germany.

[The Anglo-Saxon Empire]

I would have to say no, because it goes against the what I consider a basic right. As long as it is structurally stable, it should be allowed.

[Lunatic Goofballs]

All countries should just have their own culture and own religion, Mixing never works

Considering that every single nation on Earth today is the product of a mixing of cultures, I would call that excessively wrong.

[Woolio]

I would have to say no, because it goes against the what I consider a basic right. As long as it is structurally stable, it should be allowed.

Woo. Swastika building coming right up.

[Ashmoria]

it needs to conform to swiss law. if they have laws allowing religious discrimination, then who am i to say that they are wrong?

of course they ARE wrong. to make it harder to worship as a mulsim makes it harder for a muslim to be swiss. if you want non-christians to assimilate into your country you have to make it easier than this.

but, of course, minarets, like all new buildings, must conform to building standards and zoning laws. so i voted no... rather than no never.

[Woolio]

Ah yes, the SVP. As I recall their campaign posters from last year or so featured 4 white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag. Wonder what their agenda might be?

To kick out the worthless. The 'black sheep' coming from the fact that black wool can't be died and is much less valuable than white.

I know, I know. Probably not.