A sad day for Europe
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The Swiss were asked today to vote on a referendum that was mainly brought in by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) concerning whether the building of minarets should be forbidden and this ban added to the constitution.
Early polls showed a 37% minority in favour of the referendum.
All other political parties called upon the Swiss people to vote against the referendum.
Today 57.5% voted in favour of the minaret ban.
The four (!) minarets that are already in existence (and don’t broadcast the call to prayer outside of the mosque, mind you) are allowed to stay, but there will be no new ones.
This goes against the Swiss constitution (freedom of religion, human rights anyone?), but the will of the Swiss people as expressed in a referendum carries more weight than even the constitution, someone explained on tv today.
The only hope for a reversal of this decision would be if the Swiss supreme court or the European Court of Human Rights ruled this illegal.
If not, this will be used by anti-Islamic groups all over Europe (I could name a few here….) to further their cause.
The vague fear of the Islamisation of the western world that’s been flowing through Europe has borne the first ugly political fruit.
This is a very sad day for Switzerland, and it will have repercussions in the whole of Europe.
I am saddened, shocked and appalled.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:17 am
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Ah dear..thats not good.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
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Not good at all, no.
I just heard on the radio that the extreme right wingers in the Netherlands are already planning to force a similar referendum on their fellow politicians…
November 30th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
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Sad, indeed.
If we, the West, condemn the persecution of other religions in the Middle East by Islamic extremists, we must also condemn any such activity directed at any religious group within our own countries. Freedom of religion is an important tenet in any just constitution.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
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Sadly, the main argument of most “enlightened” Islam “critics” is the following: “How can they demand fair treatment and freedom of religion from us here? Just look at Saudi Arabia!”
And no matter how often ppl explain the flaw in their argument to them, they simply refuse to accept that a democracy has to grant rights to minorities and has to grant religious freedom because otherwise it would not be a democracy.
Not to mention that often they simply state their own little prejudices and preconceptions of the “Isalmic world” as well-known fact. For instance that no Muslim country allows churches. Guess I must have hallucinated the ones I saw there then…
December 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
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I’m not sure I understand the reasoning for banning minarets. If there is no publicly audible call to prayer, why would anyone object? But, what about church bells? There must be some people who object to hearing church bells. Should the audible ringing of bells be banned too?
December 6th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
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No, the annoying din of church bells is a beloved tradition in christian countries and has to be preserved as such.
Minarets, on the other hand, are foreign and therefore evil, even if there’s no audible call to prayer.
Furthermore, as everyone knows, no Muslim country allows churches.
I think I’ll take a handful of aspirin now and have a nice lie-down, thank you…
December 6th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
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You forgot the main argument these days.
“Minarets are a symbol of power and of the political, radical, fundamental Islam.
They stand for the Islamisation of our society.
Therefore, if I forbid minarets I can make a statement
for xenophobiaagainst Islamism.”December 6th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
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Lol, how could I forget THAT…
December 7th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
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So their argument was, if we allow minerates, then next there will be call for prayers, and next there will be rule of Sharea.
I saw minutes of John Stewart show yesterday, he was like: REALLY? REALLY? FROM MINERATES TO SHAREA RULE IN JUST TWO STEPS?!
loooool
December 7th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
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Khalid understood it. (Or paid attention to the show he saw…) That’s the islamophobe’s world view in a nutshell, yup.
Of course ppl wouldn’t be ppl if there weren’t minor differences in their theories…
December 29th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
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Hi Mel, wie gehts? Haven’t seen much from you in a while..
December 29th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
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Ahem… *pokes ya*
Update us with some new postings, dear!
December 29th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
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And btw, merry belated xmas and happy new year!
January 16th, 2010 at 1:59 am
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Aaaaaaaand… a wizzard’s staff got a knob on the end, knob on the end, knob on the end..
i’m bored
and i dont have internet.
nor tv.
i’m watching reruns ON DVD.
and posting this via piggybacked intertubez.
i really should go sleep though.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:06 am
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I still do not have internet. nor tv.
i did order the first two discworld books. in paperbacks.
thanks for convincing me
in the end it was the Covers + the Price that clinched it.