I’ve had the following links floating around my feed-reader for a while now, but I did want to post them here.
In Switzerland on November 29 a referendum proposing a ban on the construction of new minarets on mosques was passed. The popular vote outcome was 58% in favour while 42% opposed, with three-quarters of the 24 cantons also registering a majority yes vote. The Swiss Parliament recommended that the proposal be defeated. Interesting for anyone with a reformed theological inclination Geneva, along with other cities recorded majority opposition to the proposal.
This is not a ban on mosques as such, just a distinctive aspect of architecture that is popularly associated with their design.
Dr Albert Mohler offers commentary: ‘On Faith: Out of Sight, Out of Mind? — The Swiss Ban Minarets’, along with a link to this Wall Street Journal article. Mohler identifies the decision as one that flies in the face of tolerance and which also represents a tokenistic denial of the changing face of Europe in the light of the growth of its Islamic population.
On the Out Of Ur blog Skye Jethani asks: ‘Wait a Minaret! How will your church respond to the growing influence of Islam?’ Jethani interacts with Mohler’s commentary, stating that: ‘The case in Switzerland reveals that the issue may not be one of religion but culture. The referendum in predominantly secular Switzerland was not fueled by a desire to keep Christianity central, but to keep Muslims marginalized. The citizens recognized that Islam isn’t simply a set of theological beliefs, but a worldview that carries with it (like all worldviews) cultural implications.’
The time will come when governments will seek to curtail aspects of Christian expression in order to maintain cultural stability. Christians will need to know what aspects of our faith, as practiced, are essential and which are not. If crosses were banned we could freely forgo them. The symbol of the cross is nowhere commended in the Bible. But if we were commanded to relinquish the Scriptures themselves, or edit portions considered unacceptable from them, we would have no choice but to keep our Bibles intact and read and preach from them.
As Christians we do not have facilitate the practices of various religions. But our outreach must be based on respect and the spread of the Gospel, not coercion and persecution.
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