No more minarets in Switzerland.

[Mafiaaffe]

(IsraelNN.com) Switzerland is holding a referendum Sunday on a proposal to legally ban the construction of minarets, the towers that are built atop Muslim mosques, from which the calls to prayer are sounded.

The proposed law has caused a charged debate in Switzerland and outside of it as well. It was submitted 15 months ago by representatives of two right-wing parties, the Swiss People's Party (SPP) - Switzerland's largest - and the Federal Democratic Union (UDF). Proponents say they do not oppose Muslims, but merely their perceived bid to introduce Islamic law in the country. "The minaret has got nothing to do with religion," the Guardian quotes an SPP member. "It's a symbol of political power, a prelude to the introduction of sharia law." It is also claimed that Muslim freedom of worship can be sufficiently served by mosques without minarets.

To make it short: it has become illegal to build minarets.

 

[5810Singer]

My first thought was: "So what happens if a none Muslim wants to build a minaret for purely aesthetic reasons?"

It's a silly law, and I can only see it as an act of knee-jerk racism.

 

[Mafiaaffe]

My first thought was: "So what happens if a none Muslim wants to build a minaret for purely aesthetic reasons?"

It's a silly law, and I can only see it as an act of knee-jerk racism.

Well, i don,´t think it will be illegal to build towers that merely look like minarets. But when I say "Mein Kampf" is my holy book and I want to build towers to preach nazi propaganda i am sure you would also sign a petition to stop me. Islam is at least equally dangerous and disgusting and should be treated same way as national socialism. I would sign any petition that keeps sharia law out of europe.

 

[5810Singer]

My first thought was: "So what happens if a none Muslim wants to build a minaret for purely aesthetic reasons?"

It's a silly law, and I can only see it as an act of knee-jerk racism.

Well, i don,´t think it will be illegal to build towers that merely look like minarets. Anyways, Islam is a dangerous and a disgusting religion and should be treated as national socialism. I would sign any petition that keeps sharia law out of europe.

A form of architectural design has just been made illegal in Switzerland because it has become associated with a particular religion.......

Rational? I don't think so.

Here's a link to some information about "onion-domes", I found the pictures of Catholic churches in Austria and Germany quite interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion_dome#Outside_Russia



BTW, I apologise for using the word "racism" in my original post.
I should have used the word "bigotry".

 

[Don-Sama]

well pure discrimination.

basicly switserland now is anti-islam? and they do like christianity heh the nutters.

 

[dr_esteban]

From what I have read previously Switzerland appears to be full of bigots so perhaps this is unsurprising

 

[JacobEvans]

I don't find this to be bigotry at all.

 

[5810Singer]

I don't find this to be bigotry at all.

I challenge your findings and present this as evidence:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigotry


The first two lines sum it up for me.

 

[JacobEvans]

If the Mormon church I live near had a huge tower that was dedicated to blaring out calls to prayer multiple times in the day, you damn well better believe I'd want that down too!

 

[5810Singer]

If the Mormon church I live near had a huge tower that was dedicated to blaring out calls to prayer multiple times in the day, you damn well better believe I'd want that down too!

:lol:

How do you feel about highly amplified overdriven guitar?

 

[Aught3]

I have some sympathy for banning buildings that don't fit the local architectural style as they can ruin the look of older towns and villages. Minarets, especially if done in the traditional onion dome style, would look exceedingly odd in the Swiss skyline. I think it's important to note that mosques themselves haven't been banned and that a minaret isn't a necessary addition to make a place of Islamic worship. However, I don't think a complete ban is necessary as the minarets can either be designed to fit with the local architecture or built within the more cosmopolitan centres where the buildings are more modern.

Ultimately, I think the issue of building a minaret should be left to local bodies to make the decision.

 

[Mafiaaffe]

A form of architectural design has just been made illegal in Switzerland because it has become associated with a particular religion....

....a religion that stands for the discrimination of women, homophobia and seeks total domination either through converting or killing everyone for "denying the truth". And again the the building was not banned because of it,´s form but because of it,´s function as a huge propaganda tower.

 

[5810Singer]

A form of architectural design has just been made illegal in Switzerland because it has become associated with a particular religion....

....a religion that,´s stands for the discrimination of women, homophobia and seeks total domination either through converting or killing everyone for "denying the truth". And again the the building was not banned because of it,´s form but because of it,´s function as a huge propaganda tower.

I don't understand why you believe your position on Islam to be rational.

Yes there are passages of the Koran that say some disturbing and awful things, but so does the Bible, why aren't Christian bell-towers being banned?

Yes fundamentalist Muslims have commited awful crimes in the name of their faith, so have fundamentalist Christians, are you campaigning against their centres of faith?

An architectural form that exists throughout Europe already, and, paradoxically, is found most often in Christian centres of faith, is being demonised........
An architectural form demonised.......sounds utterly irrational to me.

Furthermore, the Swiss govt. are proposing to ban the architectural form for socio-religious reasons. This is unworkable in practice.
Minarets/onion-domes are widespread in indigenous Christian, European architecture. If someone wants to raise a building featuring a minaret/onion-dome for purely aesthetic reasons do they now have to sign some kind of affidavit to that effect?
And if so what's to stop a mosque builder from signing a similar declaration?
Will the situation arise that other denominations will be able to use the form of minarets/onion-domes, and it will be allowable on secular buildings, but Muslims alone won't be allowed to use it?
And where will the line be drawn? If the form of the minaret/onion-dome is so synonymous with Islam as to be an affront to the sensibilities of the Swiss, then will pictures of the Moscow skyline be banned on Swiss tv?

This ban is petty, it's irrational, and it's going to stir up animosity on both sides.

Lastly, what's the difference on a rational level between someone saying: "It must be true, it's in the Bible," and someone else saying: "It must be bad, Muslims did it,"........?

 

[ImprobableJoe]

Well, i don,´t think it will be illegal to build towers that merely look like minarets. But when I say "Mein Kampf" is my holy book and I want to build towers to preach nazi propaganda i am sure you would also sign a petition to stop me. Islam is at least equally dangerous and disgusting and should be treated same way as national socialism. I would sign any petition that keeps sharia law out of europe.

So, you're exactly like the Muslim radicals, but in the opposite direction? I value things like freedom and democracy, and you seem to be spitting on the concepts in the name of your fear and religious bigotry.

 

[scalyblue]

I'm reading this as not being so much against islam as being against sharia law.

 

[5810Singer]

I'm reading this as not being so much against islam as being against sharia law.

Here's a link to a piece in The Telegraph online:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/6683249/Switzerland-appears-to-have-backed-minaret-ban.html

The Telegraph is synonymous with being a right leaning publication, and certainly does not act as an apologist for fundamentalist Islam.

I advise you to read the piece carefully and in it's entirety, it's brief, as far as I can ascertain it's balanced, and it covers all the important facts.

I find the connection between minarets and sharia law to be circumstantial at best, and nothing that the proponents of the ban have said has in any way changed my view.

 

[DrunkCat]

Any form of censorship is terrible.

 

[monitoradiation]

Hmm. If what the OP's quote was correct, then I'm against building minarets as well. If it's a symbol for introducing sharia law - I am intolerant of that. There's nothing wrong with being intolerant of people are trying to legislate hatred. That's similar to saying "I'm intolerant of murderers". Yes we are. We don't tolerate murder. And we don't tolerate indiscriminant hatred.

I'm thinking that this would be comparable to banning the use of the swastika simply as a statement in itself on a building (nevermind the meaning of swastikas prior to the Nazi party). There is a distinct difference between using the swastika in casual, conversational ways and blatant political posturing and advocacy of what the symbol stands for.

But I'm thinking this falls under the jurisprudence of a more local scope. This isn't something that can be censored on a nation-wide scale.

 

[5810Singer]

Hmm. If what the OP's quote was correct, then I'm against building minarets as well. If it's a symbol for introducing sharia law - I am intolerant of that. There's nothing wrong with being intolerant of people are trying to legislate hatred. That's similar to saying "I'm intolerant of murderers". Yes we are. We don't tolerate murder. And we don't tolerate indiscriminant hatred.

I'm thinking that this would be comparable to banning the use of the swastika simply as a statement in itself on a building (nevermind the meaning of swastikas prior to the Nazi party). There is a distinct difference between using the swastika in casual, conversational ways and blatant political posturing and advocacy of what the symbol stands for.

But I'm thinking this falls under the jurisprudence of a more local scope. This isn't something that can be censored on a nation-wide scale.

In what sense is the onion-domed tower that sits atop a mosque a symbol for sharia law?

And what precisely do the onion-domed towers that sit atop the Kremlin symbolise?

Does the onion-domed tower that sits atop this Christian church in Germany represent sharia law too?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mary_(Ramersdorf)

 

[monitoradiation]

In what sense is the onion-domed tower that sits atop a mosque a symbol for sharia law?

Please read my post carefully. I said, If the OP's direct quote is correct. It says.

It's a symbol of political power, a prelude to the introduction of sharia law

If it's not correct, then the following I posted in my previous post would not hold.

In the same way that I will be intolerant of people having a gigantic painting representing their adulation for mass murders in a public place, I will be intolerant of PUBLIC symbols that directly promote laws that can see people stoned the death for minor infractions of what they consider to be things like family honor.

In private, they can have whatever they want. It's not my business.

Edit: I have to add more emphasis on this. I've seen numerous onion-domed buildings, and have an aesthetic appreciation for them. All I'm pointing out is that if it is USED as a statement in itself and that statement is one that promotes sharia law, then I'm against that. That is all. It's not as if I'm going to call for the ban of Tetris because of the onion-domed buildings it's pictured to have. That would be ludicrous.