Much has been made of the fact that the Swiss population rejected via a referendum the further propagation of religious symbols across the Swiss\u00a0 landscape in the form of minarets on mosques. \u00a0Predictably, the politically correct have cried foul and see this as an assault on the freedom to practice a religion.<\/p>\n
And – not surprisingly \u2013 most of the noise about this will come from the Muslim communities around the world, \u00a0and which are not exactly known for their tolerance\u00a0 of\u00a0 divergent religious beliefs\u00a0in \u00a0their\u00a0midst. In fact, they are the least likely to make allowances for other religions\u00a0 in their\u00a0communities \u2013 and the irony of this should not\u00a0 be lost on anyone<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be clear: \u00a0this is less about the freedom of religion, and more \u00a0about the need by some to brand the landscape with one\u2019s \u00a0particular flavor of religious superstition through the use of distinctive architecture.<\/p>\n
When this has happened, I can’t help but think of how similar this is to what animals do to mark their territory (!)\u00a0 But by erecting one’s uniquely symbolic \u00a0architecture across the country is one way to assert ownership or control of sorts.\u00a0 This is religion at its very tribal origin \u2013 and \u00a0goes together with all the other outward symbols of religious tribalism, such as hairstyles,\u00a0 beards, turbans and other headgear, e.g., burkas, kippahs,\u00a0 shtreimels, as well as specific rituals, such as genital mutilation, etc.<\/p>\n
And so this wasn\u2019t at all about some religious group not being able to practice their faith in public. But by \u00a0rejecting the public display\u00a0 of their most visible and overt \u00a0symbolism of their faith\u00a0 across their landscape, \u00a0the Swiss are in effect only saying that\u00a0 \u201cbelieve what you want, but don\u2019t \u00a0mark or otherwise contaminate our landscape with it!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Much has been made of the fact that the Swiss population rejected via a referendum the further propagation of religious symbols across the Swiss\u00a0 landscape in the form of minarets on mosques. \u00a0Predictably, the politically correct have cried foul and … Continue reading