On 2 Dez., 17:58, Ian Pollard <[email protected]> wrote: > Fantastic news and, despite what you say, very progressive! :) > Er, Ian, I don't believe I personally put forward any opinion as to the progressive, or otherwise nature of the decision of the Swiss people in my original post. I simply formulated some of the questions which are being publicly discussed in Europe following the referendum.
Formally, the Swiss simply decided to forbid the building of minarets in their country. No more, no less. Symbolically, of course, writing this prohibition into Swiss law means much more - indeed, many different things to different people. Personally, I would incline to the view that what can and cannot be built is more a matter for local authorities and their procedures for granting planning permission. A well-designed mosque with minaret may well improve certain urban landscapes from an architectural/aesthetic perspective, just as many badly designed and situated Christian churches are simply ugly and just don't fit in where they are. The much deeper question of Islam and the relationship between it, as a religious-cultural-political Weltanschauung and western societies and the values they (we) see as being basic to their (our) self- understanding is complex and multi-facetted. My hope is that this thread may take up some of these issues. 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.
