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Several points... Legolas Send a noteboard - 03/12/2009 07:15:17 PM

It isn't hard to argue that the law shows intolerance. It denies a particular group the right to build certain structure they consider important. I just don’t think it is all that intolerant though. I think any indigenous population has the right to reasonable protection of culture, even if those indigenous people happen to be white Europeans because the reality is they are in much more danger of being culturally over run then the Muslims are.

If the waited until the skyline was dotted with minarets and you could calls to prayer anywhere in the city it would be a little late to put in restrictions.


Firstly, considering how dominant western culture is all over the world, I wouldn't exactly say the white Europeans are in much more danger of being culturally overrun. :P

Secondly, calls to prayer aren't the issue, as I said I don't know of any mosque in Western Europe that actually does that.

And lastly, one needs building permits for all those mosques and minarets just like for anything else, it's quite possible that some have already been denied permits in Switzerland, and the local authorities of any city or village that feared a planned minaret would disturb their skyline could easily deny the permit. That's really not an argument for a blanket ban. This is a restriction of the authority of local authorities over their skyline, not support. In any case, the vast majority of mosques in Switzerland (and in most European countries really) lacks a minaret, I would guess largely for that reason: within a city, it's very hard to get a permit for any kind of tower. The fancy mosques with minaret are either quite old (the one in Brussels is over a century old, I believe, or close), or are built well away from the city center in a place where they don't stand out in the skyline.
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It seems the Swiss ban on muslim minarets has passed rather quietly - 02/12/2009 04:15:22 PM 519 Views
This is surprising. - 02/12/2009 04:19:03 PM 269 Views
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ECHR Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion - 02/12/2009 10:52:35 PM 308 Views
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Re: I'm hoping you mean great in the bad way. - 03/12/2009 02:03:33 AM 245 Views
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They pretty much have. - 02/12/2009 10:16:46 PM 265 Views
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Several points... - 03/12/2009 07:15:17 PM 260 Views
The Adhan can really get to you - 02/12/2009 11:14:47 PM 311 Views
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It's not the government that did it. *NM* - 03/12/2009 12:29:35 AM 119 Views
*re reads* Oh. I guess it's really power to the people over there - 03/12/2009 12:35:59 AM 226 Views
Unfortunately, sometimes... *NM* - 03/12/2009 12:15:29 PM 146 Views

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