In a referendum last Sunday, 57.5% of the Swiss voted to ban minarets. As right-wing populists cheered and liberal multi-culturalists were shocked, the Swiss decision reflects a deep problem for western democracies, particularly in Europe. How do you integrate a religious culture into a pluralist society, which has mutual tolerance as one of its basic principles, when significant groups in that culture reject many principles of that society which is trying to integrate them? Is this a signal that the meeting between western societies and Islam leads to irreconcilable differences? Or is the Swiss vote basically, or partly, an expression of deep-seated racism and subjective views of cultural superiority?
Some background: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,664231,00.html Francis -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
