Mixed reaction to Swiss banning of minarets

I like religion to be personal and private. That goes for all religions. As someone who likes religion to be kept out of my field of vision when I am out in the world, I have a deep and innate feeling of approval for the recent decision by the Swiss populace to ban construction of new minarets, which are heavily associated with Islam today.

However, as a champion of freedom to practice as people wish, I feel also a tinge of sadness at the Swiss decision. This seeming contradiction is not difficult for me to internalize. I think of Voltaire, who didn’t say,

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

This statement by Evelyn Beatrice Hall (misattributed to Voltaire) accurately represents my distaste-for-but-defense-of religion.

If minarets are an outward representation of Islamic religious buildings, then they should not be banned just because the Swiss people are tired of feeling overrun by Muslims.

Instead of an outright ban, perhaps the Swiss people could compromise and restrict the size, number, and placement of minarets. There are permissible restrictions on religious liberty that could allow reasonable expression of faith by Swiss Muslims.

Alternatively, the Swiss could ban all new construction of religious structures. While that would not be the ideal solution, at least the Swiss would set an example as equal-opportunity discriminators.

Read more about the Swiss ban of minarets here.

Notable quote from the linked article: In opposing the vote on a plan to ban minarets in Switzerland,

“the middle ground and left-wing parties did very little.”

Tags: Islam, Swiss ban minarets, Voltaire

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 10:28 am and is filed under religious liberty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment below, or trackback from your own site.