So, Swiss voters have voted yes to a referendum proposal to ban the building of minarets. Some complain over this as a hinder of religious freedom, and it is, but supporters of the ban claimed that allowing minarets would represent the growth of an ideology and a legal system - Sharia law - which are incompatible with Swiss democracy, they too are right. So how do one stand on this issue?
Well, for anyone with any sense of decency and liberty, one needs to condemn this result. It is also a sort of rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture.
Still I cannot help myself, I’m sort of happy for this idiocy.
There are two reasons for my general happiness in this case. Neither of which will have any enemies of humanity call me a friend. Firstly it shows, yet again, how democracy can make the most stupid stuff seem attractive for the sheople of this world. Secondly this is a dent in the growing Muslimification of the western world and the righteous will, yet again, scream about hatred, fascism and racism. And you gotto love that.
And I have to admit, I belong in that fold that doesn’t really like the growing voices of radical Islam. Not that I would ever argue for or celebrate any intrusion into personal choice comes to religion or any other basic freedom.
In a way I think many out there share this sentiment. Most of the people I know would never ban or outlaw any people from their religious rights; however, most are also sort of suspicious of Islam. We need to blame movies, American warmongering presidents and a few radical terrorist for this, but there’s also the non-PC reason – namely that there’s a degree of truth to such notions. There are elements within Islam, and not only radical ones, that are incompatible with democracy and freedom, not that any other religion is different, it’s just as things are. And have you ever seen those Muslim nutcases roaming British (or any other) street? You can gain anti-Islam feelings for less.
But if one of the most vicious killing-machines of all time, Christianity, was able to conform into some form of decency, Islam can do it as well. So we probably need a couple of wars, some rebellions, several terrorist attacks, and some decades of uncertainty before the vast majority of peaceful Muslims adapt to a more western way of thinking. And yes, our way is better, how’s that for pc?
Too bad then that our economic calamity will destroy the world before Muslims can prove that they aren’t vicious terrorists. That will probably make things worse before (or rather “if”) it gets better.
Man vet snart inte om man ska skratta eller skrika eller gråta när man läser en del PK-inlägg och PK-bloggar. Man jämställer nybyggnation av minareter med att vi minsann har en massa förhatliga kyrktorn som dessutom ringer ibland.
ReplyDeleteSkulle vi riva vår historiska arkitektur och utplåna vårt kulturarv för att blidka invandrare eller är det bara något slags barnslig rättviseprincip man vill hävda?
Oavsett vilket är det fruktansvärt sorgligt med det självförakt och den okunskap som finns rörande vår egen kuturella identitet i Sverige.
Tack för det - alla sossar, vänsterflummare och batiktanter som fått härja fritt sedan ‘68!
thanks for an interesting post,
ReplyDeleteI too am ambivalent to the swiss referendum. I want religious freedom if you ask me. But:
1. The talk of racism is silly. Switzerland is a small country with 400 000 muslims. They have better protection and more freedom there compared to the muslim world where deadly conflicts between the sects are common. The swiss people have been very generous.
2. Religious freedom is not the right to build towers with speakers blaring propaganda in the morning. I would vote against too. I also would vote against giving christian sects the right to build propaganda-blaring towers outside my window. So why is it ok with christian churches then, some people ask. Come on, get real, western Europe is a christian culture since millennia, and this can't be erased just because a lot of muslim immigrants suddenly appear on the stage demanding everything to conform to their religious sensibility. The same pc-commentators who now bemoan this are the same bunch applauding the ban of christian symbols in italian schools and who become enraged by cartoons depicting the prophet and can't stand critics from within the muslims like Hirsi Ali or Irshad Manji (they probably can't stand people like Voltaire either).
3. Islam is not just a religion it's a political ideology about repression of women and a set of laws demanding submission under an oriental god. In Europe we recently threw off the shackles of repressive religion and installed secular law. If muslims want to revert this they can expect resistance. Obviously islam does not go well with feminism, liberalism, freedom of speech, sexual freedom and HBT-rights. This will lead to conflicts sooner or later. Of course the swiss people know that some mosques function as recruitment stations for young men who want to go to countries like Ethiopia to fight the ”infidels”. And of course they have heard about the preaching of anti-semitism by imams in mosques. And of course they know that theocracies like Saudi Arabia want to pour billions of € into Europe to fund mosques. And of course they know about the muslim strive for increased segregation of the sexes. Maybe they even have heard about Swedish suburbs where women are persecuted by self appointed religious fashion-police? Some people obviously feel more loyalty to medieval political values than the liberal country they for some reason chose to live in.
(In Switzerland there was some tension when one of their mosques displayed the symbol of the wolf referring to the turkish nationalist party MHP. As we know how the new class usually look upon nationalist sentiments among european people... What do turkish religious nationalists do in a secular enlightened society?)
4. Before the vote there was some talk about "what will Al-Qaida say and do?" and "how will this affect export?"... Yeah right, what will bin laden say, better do as he says... If there are protests, violence and threats the vote of the swiss people is proven right: Islam is trouble. And how in hell can someone see economic reasons for appeasing intolerant priest-kings living in the medieval world? Let them boycott, they need our products and technology much more than we need their oil-money.
5. The vote must be seen in context of the growing difference in opinion and outlook between people in general and the ruling elites of the new class in Europe. The latter is becoming more multiculturalist and pc. Critics of this project can easily be labeled "racists" and "islamophobes" as a means to silence them. Obviously a growing number of people don't like this and some kind of backfire is taking place right now.
Finally: FN and Amnesty are now criticising the swiss people for their disturbing skepticism and lack of religious tolerance. Yeah, FN, the place where torturers can create a club protecting "human rights". When did these moral dwarves last criticise the lack of tolerance and religious freedom (and other freedoms) in the muslim countries?
Here in Sweden the hypocrisy of the pc:s have reached new levels of insanity. While screaming in anger about the nazism of the swiss people it seems like we have the same restrictions here. Even in the middle of the pc-intensive Södermalm, Stockholm. There, when the Stockholm mosque was built, the opinion against religious prayers from minarets was so strong that this was not allowed... Jesus, the islamophobic racists of Södermalm where the new class live... So, the mosque now has a fake minaret too small for use.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we don't allow religious slaughter (halal). It is against our view of animal rights. Our values or our religion if you will. Our western racist islamophobic values... So, when our core values of the enlightenment clash with fundamentalists they lose. We restrict their religious freedom. As it should be.
Religious freedom is also the right to be free from religion. These towers intervene with my personal freedom. I gues you are one of these libertarians who thinks that freedom that other people must suffer for is a good thing. The right of the strong. I am disgusted by this politicak philosophy. It makes me think of the thirties
ReplyDelete