Swiss Breeze against Islam

The Swiss people have approved a ban on the construction of new minarets, the towers that are a characteristic feature of the architecture of Islamic mosques. From SwissInfo:

In a major upset the proposal by members of rightwing parties won 57.5 per cent of the vote, despite recommendations by the government and a majority in parliament that the initiative be thrown out.

The government says voters' approval of a ban on new minarets reflects fears among the Swiss population of Islamic fundamentalism.

Well, yeah.

However, [the government] considers a ban is not the right way to prevent extremist tendencies. In an apparent effort to downplay the impact of the result, cabinet ministers maintained religious freedom for Muslims was not at risk and said inter-religious dialogue would continue.

There are two issues here that cut at odds with one another. One is religious freedom. Modern liberal democracy is in large part a reaction to the religious wars that tore Europe apart and killed millions only a few centuries ago. The issue was largely resolved, so far as the Protestant schism was concerned, by a simple social contract. So long as each citizen respected the laws of the state, including the rights of other citizens, he or she could believe and practice his or her own faith. A ban on minarets looks to me like a violation of the contract. It strikes directly at what Americans call free exercise of religion.

The other issue is that the peoples of European nations have lost confidence in the willingness of their governments, let alone the EU, to protect their liberal democracies against the illiberal strains of militant Islam that have immigrated into Europe. An Aramaic priest in Belgium is prosecuted for "incitement to racist hatred" because he said this in a TV interview:

Every thoroughly Islamized Muslim child that is born in Europe is a time bomb for Western children in the future. The latter will be persecuted when they have become a minority.

Well, that's over the line. It should be illegal to say such a thing, unless you think that people have a right to express their opinions.

But Père Samuel is only one of a number of Christian priests to face such a prosecution. If any radical Muslim Imam has been hauled before a European court for saying similar things about the Jews, I have missed it.

The Volokh Conspiracy has the best thing I have seen on this, by David Kopel:

Back in 2003, after I visited Geneva, I wrote the following for my Rocky Mountain News media column: "Local investigative reporting appears weak. A Swiss television station recently exposed a secret deal between the Geneva police and the Iranian government: The Iranians would not commit terror in Switzerland, while the Geneva police would turn a blind eye to Iranian terror bases in Geneva. In the United States, such a revelation would set off a frenzy of newspapers advancing the story with further investigation about a gigantic local police scandal, but the Geneva papers did little with the story."

This is just one of many examples of the Swiss elite's feckless and amoral dealing with the Islamonazis of Tehran.

Europe's Muslims should have the right to build Mosques, just as Europe's priests and Imams should have the right to express their opinions no matter how politically incorrect they may be. But all Europe's people should have the right to equal and vigorous protection against threats to their lives and liberties. If you want to stem the tide of "Islamaphobia," a little backbone on the latter might be in order.

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[learningquranonline]

"Did you think that We had created you in play, and that you would not be returned unto Us?" The noble Qur'an, Al-Muminoon(23):115.
www.learningquranonline.com

What Does "Islam" Mean?
The word "Islam" itself means "Submission to Allah." The religion of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of "Christianity" which was named after Jesus Christ, "Buddhism" after Gutama Buddha , "Marxism" after Karl Marx, and "Confucianism" after Confucius.
Similarly, Islam is not named after a tribe like "Judaism" after the tribe of Judah and "Hinduism" after the Hindus. The Arabic word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the will of the only true god worthy of worship, "Allah" (known as God "the Father" in Christianity).
Anyone who does indeed submit to the will of Allah as required by Islam is termed a "Muslim," which means one who has submitted to the will of Allah. Many people in the West have developed the sad misinformed trend of calling Islam "Muhammadenism" and it's followers "Muhammadins." This is a totally foreign word to Muslims and unrecognized by them. No Muslim has ever called his religion "Muhammadenism" or called himself a "Muhammadin."
What Is The Basic Concept of Islam?
Islam teaches us that this life is a life of worship. We are placed on this earth in order to worship Allah and obey His command. During this earthly life we are subjected to a series of trials. We have the option of enduring these trials and conforming to certain laws, and our reward will be great in the next life, or we may decline to endure these trials and choose to not conform to the law, then we will be made to regret it in the next life.
Each person will be solely and completely responsible for their own final reward. We are also told that God has designed these laws to make this life a better, safer, and more tolerable one for us. If we elect to conform to them then we will see the result in this life even before moving on to the next.
We are told that the earthly life is a life of faith and work, and the next life is one of reward and no work. We have been placed on this earth to worship God, fast, pray, be industrious, good, kind, respectful, and a source of uprightness and morality. We are told that God has no need of our worship. Our worship can not increase the kingdom of God nor add to His power, however, it is in our best interests both in this life and the next that we do.
Unlike some other religions which claim that God entered in a covenant with a certain group of people and that this group is genetically better than all other human beings, or closer to God, Islam on the other hand teaches that no color, race, tribe, or lineage is better than any other. Islam teaches that all humans are equal in the sight of Allah and that the only thing that can distinguish them in His sight is their piety and worship.
"O humankind! Verily! We have created you from a male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily! the noblest among you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing. Verily! Allah is The Knower, The Aware." The noble Qur'an, Al-Hujrat(49):13.