The Swiss news agency ATS reported today that the ban on the construction of minarets has been approved by 57% of the voters who supported this draconian measure. The referendum that proposed the ban was backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).
It is a sad moment for all people who cherish religious freedom to see a discriminatory law receive wide popular support in the country that witnessed the birth of modern democracy. It is also ironic that such a blatant expression of intolerance is taking place in the birthplace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau who drew on his Swiss experience to call on Europe to embrace freedom and shun arbitrary rule.
Switzerland has made today a giant step backward in the direction of the religious intolerance of medieval Europe. The measure might have appeared to the Swiss who succumbed to the far-right propaganda inconsequential, but it will certainly empower extremists in both Muslim and Western countries, and will take the world on a downward spiral.
The vote was surprising to many as it is diametrically opposed to the democratic values and the enlightenment spirit that are the source of a great pride to Swiss society, and to the very image of Switzerland as an open and tolerant society that cherished diversity.
The decision to ban mosque minarets is an act of religious discrimination and intolerance pure and simple. It simply means everyone but Muslims are free to build their house of worship using their preferred architectural style. My advice to the Swiss is to go and read the Social Contract, written by their most prominent political philosopher who made his long lasting contribution to modern society by celebrating freedom, and who proudly introduced himself on the cover of his book as “the citizen of Geneive.”
Rousseau is now turning in his grave as his country of origin succumb to the intimidation and fear mongering of the Swiss People’s Party. The Social Contract makes a moving intellectual appeal for the establishment of a free society, governed by a common will directed towards protecting the rights and dignity of all citizens. The first sentence of the book celebrates freedom as the birth right of all people: “Man was born free but is everywhere is bondage.” He, however, reminds those who care about freedom that it can only be maintained through a commitment to the principle of equality rights and dignity of all people. Chapter eleven of the book begins with the admonishment that “liberty cannot subsist without equality.”
The decision to ban the construction of minarets is a source of great concern for Western Muslims to see European commitment to democracy and human rights unravel in the face of extremist threats on one side and extremist fear mongering on the other. The Swiss vote will undoubtedly invigorate the European far right, who will see this as a green light to further isolate and marginalize European Muslims. The move will be also celebrated by extremist voices in Muslim society, who will use the incident to support their claims that Western countries harbor anti-Islamic sentiments.
It is now the time for liberal voices in Switzerland, indeed in Europe and beyond, and all those who care about the future of freedom to show their true metal and challenge this draconian measure. Swiss and European Muslims should challenge the law in Swiss and European courts and make sure that this palpable discrimination against the free exercise of religion does not stand.
Failing that the Swiss would have traded future freedom and stability for an illusory security. Failing that they would have undoubtedly failed to learn from the wisdom of Rousseau who grew up in their midst and was able to persuade the whole of Europe to follow the route of liberty. They would have also missed the wisdom of a brave American, Benjamin Franklin, who learned the hard way the importance of freedom and whose reminder should resonate with all free spirits: “They who give up freedom for security deserve neither.”
Comments
What a pleasant surprise to learn today the the people of Switzerland overwhelmingly approved a change to their constitution and implemented a ban on the construction of mosque minarets. Seems that after opening their arms to over 400,000 muslims, the Swiss (PBUT) are finally sending a message to their politicians that tolerance does have a limit after all, especially when dealing with such an intolerant ideology: islam.
Today, we are all Swiss!!
"Minarets are our bayonets. The domes are our helmets, the mosques our barracks and the believers our army."
--Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
Mr. Safi,
I'm curious how many articles have you written about Saudi Arabia not allowing Christians to build churches in the country? If Muslims want tolerance they need to show tolerance. This is a great day, and I hope many countries follow suit until all Muslims reject the extremists in their religion. If millions can come out to protest a stupid Danish cartoon, why can't the same amount show up to speak out against terrorism?
Let's look at the UK that took in millions of Muslims into their country and yet you have research that shows 20% Muslims supporting terrorism. That's 20% that are supposed to be considered moderate Muslims that are assimilated into British culture. Think about it 20% of millions, that means hundreds of thousands of terrorist sympathizers are walking the streets of the UK.
I won't even get into the fact that over 60% of Muslims in the UK support Sharia law. Bunch of animals.
There is a reason Islam seems to be the only religion that is at war with every other religion. You have Muslims killing Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddahists, Bahaii's.
Seeing as the founder of Islam was a murderer, its not surprising.
Is it Christmas already? What a wonderful gift the Swiss people just made to the western world. Let's not let this go to waste.
Islam is not a religion, its a cult. Therefore it deserves no protection.
Dear Tom, your comments, while expressing a correct impression, doesn't take into account two specific (and totally different) concepts: (1) that Muslims in the US have no ability to change the actions of Saudi Arabia or other dictatorships in the "Muslim World", and (2) that the demographics of European Muslims simply lends themselves more toward extremist throught. This is a strong distinction between Euro and U.S. Muslims, based mainly on education. The majority of Muslims in the US are highly educated and do NOT support terrorism in any form. Euro Muslims are typically less educated, lower-income, laborers, often who live in awful conditions. This tends to create the type of societal conditioning that fosters extremist thought.
You are right, though, that there should be more said on the part of western Muslims condemning the middle eastern dictatorships' trodding on non-Muslim rights which violates Islamic law and the Prophetic example, even if it's futile.
I suspect that like most people, many swiss are susceptible to non-stop debates and media coverage that promote polarization. Also, it helps (regardless of who you are) to identify an OTHER to blame your problems on and focus your fears. Hopefully all the Swiss (regardless of their religious convictions) will realize that legislating intolerance is not in anyone's interest. Those who hate (regardless of their religion) to gain a sense of self and self-esteem, cannot be helped. Hopefully they represent a lunatic fringe.
Thank you for reporting on this issue. I have also just published an article about this absurd law that has been passed in Switzerland. The passing of this law shows how far Europe has to go in establishing principles of justice and intolerance.
Finally, someone in Europe has woken up to the plague that is Islam. Congratulation to them for doing the right thing. Hopefully, France will stop the construction of the mosque in Marseille.
Britain really needs a wake up call now. All of Europe, Canada and the US needs to purge the plague of Islam from its shores. When they start building churches in Saudi Arabia maybe we can rethink our thoughts. Until then forget it.
I am surprised that some of the comments made are out of utter ignorance about Islam. If you are open to banning Minaret from Mosques, will you be open to banning the Cross from Churches? Minarets are architectural symbols and thus banning such architectural symbols are synonymous with banning freedom of expression.
Saudi Arabia is a religious-based country. In the Saudi constitution Christians and Jews are not allowed to build churchs and synogagues. This is a law and there is no offense in it. Also Jews and christians are protected by the government(part of their rights; nobody can touch them).
US and western countries have nothing in their constitution that ban religous activities( biulding a minerat or...). Saying that Saudi Arabia is intolerant is lack of knowledge and bogus comparison. I live in US and thus i follow the rules, one of them is that i cannot call for Morning prayer in public. But I could biuld a mosque and have a congregational prayer. The same applies for a Western living in Saudi Arabia. They have to follow the law.
probably minarets block the air and prevent people from getting the air in their lungs!!!.
Tom,
Saudi Arabia is not Switzerland. Do Vatican allow Mosque to be built there. I don't think so; that is a better comparison. I do not see single decent comment here that worth discussion. Everybody just spit their hate towards Islam. Islam is peace.
To Tom Bishop:
If someone wants to apply the Sharia law to himself and he believe this the right law for him, it is his personal right. i understand that you call him animal or cult(that is ur problem) but it is his freedom. Can you also support your percentages(20%) by sientific resources? thsnk you. hope you learn more about islam and i can help you if you like.
To peacemaker:
i love you peacemaker. i was trying to explain this for them. you did a better job than me.
It is so Sad to see Jesus followers having hearts full of HATE and VIOLENCE .
If you want to judge his beautiful and peaceful teachings in relation to the actions Actions of few like Hetler, or Timothy Mcevey , then judge Islam the same way .
In Islam , there is nothing but Peace , Love and Mercy.
I Invite all the hate mongers out for lunch at any of our Mosques .
As , a devout Muslim , I am supposed to follow the peaceful teachings of my faith as well as Jesus Faith .
Jesus said Bless the Peace makers , they are called the Childern of God . HE also said love your enemies .In Islam , God said that we sent you Muhamad to bring Mercy to the world . In Verse 5-32 in the holly Quran, God said that killing one life is like killing all humanity .
Please call A mosque near you or log into isalm 101 .com , or Isalmtoday .com or islamtomorrow.com .
May god forgive your hateful comments and violent words.
Peace and Blessings to all of you .
Merry Chistmas
Is this really Democracy? I would like to ask all the Americans who identify themselves as conservative if they would like to have a web based, instant democracy in this country too? What direction would we give our elected representatives on different issues on a day to day basis. Would it be reasoned, rational, based on analysis, reflection and farsightedness? Or would it be the gut reactions of the majority of reality TV watching people? Think of our own issues and how they would be resolved in such an environment and you may understand what the Swiss people have done. Examples: Abortion, School Prayer, Gay Marriage, Draft for the Afghan War, etc etc.
To Non-Muslims (Tom, Apostate, etc.):
Ignorance is bliss. Just because someone was a Muslim, it does not make their comment somehow more intelligent. And, just because someone can cite intolerance in Islam, it does not make intolerance in other religions / countries any less offensive.
There are many Muslim countries which facilitate FULL freedom to Christians and Jews (Egypt, Pakistan, etc.). Millions of Christians and Jews live there - and they have built many, many churches and synagogues.
Just to be fair, similarly, there are many, many non-Muslim countries which give FULL freedom to Muslims (US, Canada, etc.). Millions of Muslims live there without experiencing legalized prejudice.
So, the question is, what to do about the Swiss? Well, simply put, WHO THE F*** CARES?
Please, let's NOT take EVERY issue and make it into a WORLDWIDE problem. Keep things in perspective. Fine, let the Swiss ban Minarets. If / When they want to BAN ISLAM, then we should take a stand,
Furthermore, there is no slippery-slope affect here. The world is now too "small" a place for any country to get by with any drastic offense like banning a particular religion or a particular people. Do countries like France, etc. ban certain aspects of Islam (like Hijab/Veil)? Yes. But, Muslims need to realize that they cannot have FULL freedom in non-Muslims-majority countries. In fact, Muslims rarely have FULL freedom even in Muslim-majority countries.
Let's fix the problem of Muslim countries first, so that Muslims can have a preferable home to return to when religious or racist offenses occur.
Should we change the world to accommodate us? That's too broad an agenda.
We must change OURSELVES so that the world would welcome us - not change the world so that we can impose our religion onto it !!
True Believers persevere through adversity by prayer, by inward change, by
wise actions.. not by complaints and rabble-rousing.
Minarets are not a pillar of islam, pls.
I do not know what is the end goal of Swiss people? There are 1.57 billion Muslims in this world and Swiss are sending a wrong message of intolerance. As a muslim, I pray for God to open their heart to see the truth.
You know that what just transpired in Switzerland is that people became aware of what is happening in their country, and they can correlate that with what is happening in Britain, and they just plain repudiate it. This vote is not really about this or that type of structure being banned. THIS VOTE IS ABOUT SENDING A STRONG MESSAGE against the islamization of Switzerland. The Swiss know that wherever islam gets a foothold, that sharia law is not too far behind. The Swiss (PBUT) know that it is time for other belief systems to fill the immigration gap; preferably a belief system that is more understanding and accepting of the Swiss way of life.
Muslims, stop with this charade of yours and just accept that the Swiss vote is a tactical move, it is a strong MESSAGE to politicians and islamists alike that enough is enough. It's time to accept that there is a problem and they are not going to continue being passive about it. LONG LIVE THE SWISS!!!
Considering the sentiments, I guess the end goal of right wingers will be the total clash of civilization between Islam and the West. What is the right wingers short term goal? We do not know. There are 8 million muslims in USA. Are we sending all of them to concentration camp? But how? I guess they have to remove the US constitution first.
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