Switzerland bans minarets.

[Baroque_Dude]

rocketpig said:

Baroque_Dude said:

rocketpig said:

Baroque_Dude said:
[...]

Obviously common sense has to play a factor here. People shouldn't go out of their way and hamper their own lives for another religion. On the other hand, most of what you described is either anecdotal or fine in my eyes.

Some people that must deal with this issues on a frequent basis don't think that this is "anecdotal or fine", surely.

The French Muslims had a pretty damned good reason to revolt. The unemployment rate and bigotry toward them was stifling the community.

Can you tell me where did this bigotry come from? I can tell you that it is mere racism, sometimes, but NOT ALWAYS. Why does this seem to happen only with Muslims? Don't you think that their peculiar attitude towards the "recipient" country has something to do?

And bringing up what a Christian can do in a Muslim country is a deflection of the argument. The US openly admitted to torture and we were lambasted by the Western world for it and for good reason... many people used the excuse "well, they torture our troops so it's only fair". The point is to rise above intolerance and unethical practices, not to accept them because your enemy (or in this case, a religious state) openly practices it.

People love to point out how screwed up the USA is at times (and it is) but I wouldn't trade our set-in-stone laws regarding speech and religion for anything.

First off, I wasn't talking about the USA and its issues with terrorism and so on.

"Deflection of the argument"... Nope, sir We're talking about how we treat each other and I'm just pointing out that their culture is intolerant enough to demand others what they don't even do in their countries.

 

 

The people you're dealing with LEFT those countries and usually for good reason. They wanted an opportunity at success and fair treatment in most cases and I won't fault them for that.

Yes, it might be like this, in some cases.

As for people having to "deal with it all the time", I lived in southern California for over half my life. I'm well versed in how difficult it can be to deal with other cultures and people on a daily basis. Guess what, though? You just grin and bear it. You may not realize it but you're imposing your beliefs on the minority just as much, if not more, than they are on you. It's a two-way street and making a little effort to understand that isn't going to kill you.

I understand, but I think that every country has the right to preserve its own identity in its own territory, as you would like to preserve your "rules" in your house, not in your neighbour's house. This has many different approaches, though, so it's not an easy task to balance things all the time. I think that we agree on this.

Are there people who make outrageous requests that impose on society as a whole? Of course. The trick is to realize that and separate those people from the vast majority who simply want to live their life in peace and be free to practice their religion privately. Don't lump the loudmouths in with the overall minority population.

It's the kind of knee-jerk reactions that lead to the banning of minarets that cause the most trouble, not a vocal minority who play the role of irritant.

I don't lump. In my first post I already said that I don't pretend to judge every Muslim, but I speak about GENERAL behaviours that I've observed in my life.