So..after you, Islam is
just a religion. Well, for some that may well be, but there are also some who believe that to practice proper Islam one has to create an Islamic state to endorse the Islamic way of life. For some Islam is not just a religion, it's law. For them it's not that superficial kind of religion which you practice in the backyard of your house, but once you leave your house you're just like anyone else. No..it daily guides them through policies, laws, etc. It's by what you'll be judged in an Islamic State. Reason why so many Muslims want Shariah laws getting added to the legal system.
And the issue doesn't lie just within
"what purpose those minarets would have once raised". It's also about the question whether it's okay to give those people those privileges which we would never receive in most of the Islamic states. One of the nearest examples of what happens to buildings of an unwelcome religion is North of Cyprus, a place torn apart by the Turks, and where the North of Cyprus is being
islamised, so to say. They've destroyed, or shun several Christian buildings - during war, okay, but they're proceeding with this behaviour to this day, and well...read the following:
http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2006/03/cyprus_portrait.php
To the other, the issue isn't solely about the minaret as a construction in itself, but also what it symbolises, and its functionality. It's fully understandable that people wouldn't want to hear, on a daily basis, five times per day a muezzin(by now they use records, as far as I know) recalling people to pray. And as far as I'm concerned a mosque doesn't require a minaret. But the more well-off a Muslim community gets the more assets they want for mosques. Just compare poor regions with rich regions in Islamic states. It's basically to show-off the financial status, and power. Of course, that's understandable - a lot of Christians would, and are doing the same.
And an other factor that may have angered even more Swiss is the fact that Muslims never fall short of expressing threats, whether subtle, or not. So if Muslims are being denied to have minarets, they immediately jump on the bandwagon of "Well, if suddenly a few Islamic extremists plan on letting some bombs explode in Switzerland then don't be surprised! You asked for it after all!"
What's that? So if they don't get their way they will use violence? Fear-mongering at its best.
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/news_di...Sect=104&sid=9322537&cKey=1255930158000&ty=st
And the fact that the anti-minaret poster was branded as
racist is just beyond me. People keep on re-defining words just as they see fit. A pity.
