I'm against it as well.

Not all women who wear burkhas are for it... and i'd argue... likely most aren't as well.

Banning it has two main problems.

1) It's actually counterintuitive to woman's rights... which is why most women's rights groups don't like the ban.  You are telling women what is appropriate for them to wear.  It's no better a stance then the fundamentalist forcing you to wear it.

2) It doesn't actually adress the problem.   The women who were previously forced to wear it, aren't any better off in reality... the only difference is the public gets to ignore the problem.  It would be like if wife beaters forced their wives to wear yellow.  Banning of the color yellow for women to wear would just makes it harder to identify women who are abused... it wouldn't stop the underlying abuse.

That's a difficult one. I personally do not like what they represent but I could say that about a lot of religious symbols. That said, they are part of another culture and as long as people are not forced to wear them it's difficult to agrue that they shouldn't have the choice too. On the other hand there is a security issue with them. For example, motorcycle helmets are banned from banks as you can't see the persons face and so I don't see how the burka is too different. I think at passport control a women wearing a burka has to show her face but can do so in a private room with women only officers.

i am at a point in my life were i just don't care about religion, i used to be a muslim but i am agnostic in a closet now, and yet i still find this banning stupid.

I also agree minarets actually look pretty cool by the way.

Where i used to live there was a stunning mosque about 3 roads away.

You'd never really even notice it unless you looked for it... because it was backed off the road by a lot and surrounded by trees.

If the Swiss want to ban them, then that it democracy in action. Who am I to tell them otherwise?

LMAO! You would not be saying this if they banned church bells. 

Also that's kind of ironic coming from an American where you have a constitution so that some issues can't be decided by a public vote (like this issue for example).

Theres a reason why most countries do not have an absolute democracy - it's because it allows tyranny by majority. Tyranny by majority (which this is arguably a prime example of) is just as bad as any other kind of tyranny for those being subjugated.

That is b/c in Europe the state is to be protected from religion; the reverse is true for the U.S.  Historical differences....

that's a shame. minarets, and mosques in general, are a beautiful architectural and cultural addition to the landscape of any city.

i HATE these religion issues. they are so so STUPID. i just don't get it. why are people so intolerant of other people having a different religion? Although i'm fairly religion-free now, i was raised a catholic and learning about other religions always fascinated me more than anything.

sorry for the rant, but more and more stupid stories like this are popping up in the news all the time.

if the Swiss muslims want a mosque, let them build a mosque :D

it's funny to see an issue here that (almost) everyone can agree on