Quote:
Originally Posted by JMvS
Yet I don't remember anybody complaining about it. So if people were fine with abiding with the laws regulating noise, why can't they abide with the ones regulating construction?
BTW, as I explained above, our building regulations are extremely strict, and our people are very attached to the uniqueness of our land.
|
The thing is, the referendum wasn't about banning tall towers that would affect the landscape. It's about banning minarets.
I can understand the desire to want to maintain aesthetics of an area. I can also sympathize with those who would support such a ban for trying to maintain a cultural identity. However, the issue is certainly about more than simple construction regulation. There are growing numbers of Muslim immigrants in Europe. Minarets are a religious symbol, but they are also seen by some as seen a sign of political power and "spreading of Islamic fundamentalism," and certainly this is a large portion of the support for a minaret ban.
Church steeples are similar in shape and meaning. There's nothing in the Bible requiring them for worship, just as there is nothing requiring minarets in the Qur'an. I imagine that there are some steeples in Switzerland (my google of Swiss churches seems to confirm that
). Yet the ban does not include them. I think the reason people are upset is not that they don't think Switzerland has a right to protect its architectural aesthetics, but rather that a structure of the Muslim religion is being specifically targeted, and would seem to infringe on religious freedom.