Banning minarets. If that isn't one of the most odd government actions I've ever heard of, it's close.
In November, Switzerland voted to ban the construction of new minarets, the towerlike structures that adorn mosques. A week or so later, in an apparent act of defiance, a new minaret unexpectedly sprang up.
The minaret is attached to the warehouse of a shoe store called Pomp It Up, which is part of a Swiss chain. It was erected by the chain's owner, Guillaume Morand, who fashioned it out of plastic and wood and attached it to a chimney. The new minaret, nearly 20 feet high and illuminated at night, is clearly visible from the main highway connecting Lausanne and Geneva.
Just a way to attract new clientale to sell more shoes. Good marketing gimmick, but muslims in Switzerland won't see it that way. They are not equipped to analyse the ways of capitalists.
Send Mr. Morond to Saudi or flight to Dubai to build a plastic steeple on his chimney..... and see what's going to happen to him.
Yes, he'd be in a lot of trouble. But then Saudi Arabia is not a secular democracy where human rights are supposed to be protected. We expect bigotry and disrespect for rights from a authoritarian monarchy, but a modern Western nation is supposed to be a different story.
I think there needs to be a poster showing a minaret that people can put up on their walls. Switzerland ought to be plastered with them. Switzerland should have minaret calendars and little chocolate minarets and key chains with minarets on them. Swiss people ought to wear minaret lapel pins and ties and handkerchiefs with images of minarets on them.
