Swiss Prepare to Vote on Minaret Ban!

A proposal championed by right-wing parties to ban minarets in Switzerland goes to a nationwide vote on Sunday in a referendum that has set off an emotional debate about national identity and stirred fears of boycotts and violent reactions from Muslim countries.

The Swiss People's Party joined forces with the fringe Federal Democratic Union in the campaign. They say they are acting to fight the spread of political Islam, arguing the minaret represents a bid for power and is not just a religious symbol.

In Cologne, Germany, plans to expand the city's Ditib Mosque and complete it with a dome and two 177-foot-tall minarets have triggered an outcry from right-wing groups and the city's Roman Catholic archbishop.

People's Party lawmaker Walter Wobmann said minarets are part of Muslims' strategy to make Switzerland Islamic. He said he feared Shariah law, which would create "parallel societies" where honor killings, forced marriages and even stoning are practiced.

Source

I say ban them.

Firstly, you have to understand what a Minaret is. Most people mistakenly assume that a Minaret are where Muslims go to pray, or that's what I've encountered anyway. All the Minaret is, is a giant free standing tower built next to a Mosque that plays the call to prayer in Arabic five times a day. Mosques didn't always have Minarets attached to them but it proved to be an effective way to remind people of their faith and keep them in line.

In a non-Muslim population, they're also a method of political projection, they remind everyone of their presence and influence in society and government. It's no secret that Muslims are silently infiltrating European societies, creating large populations and imposing their will, this is just phase one for the Swiss.

Instead of celebrating the fact that Switzerland has one of the purest forms of democracy around, direct democracy, this story is used to further the "muslims are taking over the world oh noes!!!" agenda.

This isn't the beginning of any phases but the continuation of a a Swiss tradition that the PEOPLE should decide.

And they will with dignity and common sense, that's the Swiss way.

reply to post by ZombieOctopus


Okay, by that logic church steeples should be banned, what next? Oh I know, we don't like Indians so Indian restaurants shouldn't be allowed!

This is a joke. This is one of the most awful examples of a knee jerk reaction that you'll ever see.

And coming from the Swiss it's even worse, showing their "Neutral Colours" here!

All banning Islamic Architecture will do is ostracise the Muslims community more, exclude them further creating even more radicalised youths with chips on their shoulders!

Very counter productive IMHO.


Peace, Kiwifoot!





[edit on 29-11-2009 by kiwifoot]

The ban proposal has been accepted.

Oh well..+1 for bigotry and silliness in "neutral" Switzerland.
The whole thing seems very silly if you ask me.
The banning of the minarets themselves is a fairly minor and unimportant thing, but the reasoning behind it ("Supporters of a ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible with Swiss democracy") sadly exposes some of the underlying islamophobia.