From: Human Events

Swiss Ban Construction of Minarets

by Rob Schwarzwalder
12/12/2009

By a roughly three-to-two margin, the Swiss have decided to prevent the erection of any more minarets in their traditionally Christian country. A minaret is not a mosque, which is an enclosed place of worship, but rather is a tall, thin tower from which Muslims are summoned in Arabic to prayer. They don’t look a lot like chalets.

A European country with a unique culture and thousand-year old architectural tradition, the Swiss are not anti-Muslim bigots: Over the past two decades, the number of mosques in Switzerland has risen from three to roughly 90. And the proponents of banning minarets made clear they are not interested in stopping the construction of mosques -- just Middle Eastern-style towers about as at-home in Switzerland as arugula in Texas.

Many Christian and Jewish groups in Switzerland itself opposed the ban on minaret construction. They worry, rightfully, about the institution of religious prejudice and dangerous fear-mongering by groups that link terrorism not with terrorists but with Islam itself. For example, a notorious poster displayed during the recent election shows minarets in the shape of missiles: Hardly the kind of calm and respectful political engagement for which one would hope.

Yet Swiss fears about minarets symptomize a much more profound fear and growing reality: The Islamization of Europe.

In Britain alone, one recent study indicates that there are 85 Sharia courts. According to the respected British think-tank Civitas, “The fact that so many Sharia rulings in Britain relate to cases concerning divorce and custody of children is of particular concern, as women are not equal in Sharia law, and Sharia contains no specific commitment to the best interests of the child that is fundamental to family law in the UK. Under Sharia, a male child belongs to the father after the age of seven, regardless of circumstances.â€