The curious thing with the relative histories of religion is that Christianity was born into persecution, and lost it's way massively when it became a global power. Islam was born into conquest and war, and is now struggling with persecution, and finding it can't operate as it did when it started, because of the level of resistance that it understandably experiences.
Switzerland appears to have backed minaret ban
- Thread starter mattheman
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The curious thing with the relative histories of religion is that Christianity was born into persecution, and lost it's way massively when it became a global power. Islam was born into conquest and war, and is now struggling with persecution, and finding it can't operate as it did when it started, because of the level of resistance that it understandably experiences.
Rubbish. It's about preserving the appearance of Switzerland.
All religions are tolerated there as indicated by the fact there are 150 mosques in a population of just 7m.
Mosques = fine.
Minarets = not fine.
Minarets are not compatible with Swiss culture. A million whinging leftys bleating "racism" won't change that.
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Saudi Arabia has no churches. Churches were already in Turkey when parts of it were under Christian rule centuries ago.
I guess you don't care about the Saudi Wahabi money which funds extremist mosques in every part of the world and the terrorist training camps either. Saudi/Gulf State money is what keeps the whole thing going.
Islam isn't a race.
I'm going to be awkward and point out that the church is not just the building. I've attended churches that meet in all sorts of places, never mind just traditional church buildings.
That being said, I agree that Saudi Arabia does not have any concept of freedom of religion. It's ironic that we criticise a theocracy when many here would argue for the abolition of religion. Go go team hypocrisy.
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How wrong you are. Look at the Zionists in the Bush administration - Wolfowitz, Perle and co all push Israel's interests and wanted the US to go into the Middle East and take out Israel's enemies. The Israeli lobby is far reaching - why do you think the US always vetoes UN sanctions against Israel?
They won't tell you about this too much in the MSM - it's up to you to educate yourself and open your eyes.
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Yeah and the West's response? Invade Iraq.
Because that's dealing the problem. Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi incidentally.
Also, although you may have missed it, I said I don't mind them funding Mosques. Don't then try to connect that straight to a desire to see more extremism.
Yeah but that would be like saying my intense dislike of rap music makes me racist because most rap musicians are black.
Oh I agree, bigoted, xenophobic, intolerant, but not racist. There is a specific distinction in that (theoretically) you choose to be muslim and so criticism can be warranted.
I put it to you that if this was a vote on banning the building of new mosques, then the result would have been quite different. The fact that minarets are a symbol of Islamic dominance and "the bayonets of Islam" has everything to do with why the Swiss voted the way they did.
Nail. head. Doesn't suit the fake "racist" chants though.
Soldato
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No because that's not how it works. You don't dislike rap music because most rappers are black.
However, if someone dislikes Muslims because most of them are Arab/Asian, then yeah, I don't see why that isn't racist (xenophobic you've mentioned). There's a thread in SC with a video of a BNP member driving round Wembley clearly making racist remarks against Arabic Muslims.
Also I doubt most of the intolerance shown towards Jews throughout the centuries is because people have 'valid' criticisms of their faith.
Incidentally there are many examples of white people finding issues with rappers and hip hop culture in general because of their skin colour that go beyond just disliking some music.
Irony of course being that minarets were built and promoted because they mimicked bell towers on Christian churches.
Wonder how long before mosques start sprouting 'air-conditioning towers'
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Well there's a direct connection. The Saudis aren't funding liberal mosques with nice friendly clerics who repect Christians etc. They are exporting Wahhabism (the strictest and most repressive Saudi form of Islam) through these mosques.
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The BBC series "History of Christianity" is really very good - catch it on iPlayer if you're interested in such things.
Haven't we learned from history that tolerance, and letting people worship in the way they want to worship is the best way forward?
Nobody is hurting anyone... and I don't honestly see what the big deal is with minarets. When you start doing things like this, you start to make people harbour resentment. It's a very divisive policy.
Nobody is hurting anyone... and I don't honestly see what the big deal is with minarets. When you start doing things like this, you start to make people harbour resentment. It's a very divisive policy.
The Swiss would harbour resentment if they let Muslims alter the appearance of their country. At the end of the day the Muslims are guests in Switzerland, they are fortunate to be allowed to live there, if they are unhappy they are free to go and live in a Muslim country aren't they?
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In my opinion the Minarets do not fit in with the skyline of Switzerland. It's been said a few times in this thread that it's not Islam they voted against, it's the placement of the eyesores. Whether the buildings are an eyesore or not is down to opinion, but what can't be opinionated is the fact that Switzerland is not a Muslim country, so why should it adopt these types of features onto it's landscapes when they do not belong there.
It's not as if Switzerland have banned Mosques altogether, just the large towers that will impose on the buildings around it. It's funny how quick people are to play the race card when Islam isn't a race, and just because Islam isn't having everything it's own way for once people have to kick up a fuss.
It's not as if Switzerland have banned Mosques altogether, just the large towers that will impose on the buildings around it. It's funny how quick people are to play the race card when Islam isn't a race, and just because Islam isn't having everything it's own way for once people have to kick up a fuss.
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In my opinion that would be fine, say for instance, if the minaret was the same height as the mosque then that's fine, but I think you'll find that if that rule was put in place then the mosques would start to grow in height just out of being stubborn.