CreateDebate


Debate Info

7
8
Yes No
Debate Score:15
Arguments:9
Total Votes:15
More Stats

Argument Ratio

side graph
 
 Yes (3)
 
 No (6)

Debate Creator

Argento(512) pic



Do you support the Swiss voters' ban on the building of minarets?

Please read the news story if you are not familiar with it:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8385069.stm

So what is a minaret?

A minaret is a tower that adjoins a mosque. The original purpose of a minaret was to allow a muezzin to call people to prayer in that neighborhood. Some minarets are still functional in that regard although, with the use of public address systems, loud speakers today are frequently attached to the minaret instead. Most mosques have only one minaret, many of which are placed in the direction of the qibla, which shows the direction in which Muslims pray (toward the city of Makkah). However, some mosques may have more than one minaret. Minarets are also somewhat like church steeples in that people can tell from a distance which building is the mosque.

 

Yes

Side Score: 7
VS.

No

Side Score: 8
4 points

I am going to agree with the ban on a few grounds:

The minaret serves a similar purpose to that of a church steeple, which I am also against. Their purpose is to call upon the believers to pray, but also (very important) to "landmark" and "claim" the territory/surrounding area.

For example, when Istanbul fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks, the largest Christian orthodox church of the time, Hagia Sophia, was quickly converted to a Muslim temple with the addition of 4 minarets around it. These minarets also served the purpose of sending out the message that Istanbul was now a Muslim city.

In the same way that a church steeple with ringing bells, sends out a message that the surrounding area is occupied by Christians.

In today's multicultural societies, in my opinion, there is no place for such blatant "landmarking". Imagine a city where every religion has its own kind of steeple that dominates the skyline, complete with very loud audio signals calling for the believers to pray. You wouldn't have an hour of peace throughout the day!

This is not a ban on buildings of religious worship. Muslims can still build mosques, just like Christians can build churches. So no one is taking away their grounds of worship. What is being taken away is the symbolic accessory landmark, whose aim is to "claim" the area for Islam. Hopefully, this ban will be extended to include church steeples as well. Then all things will be equal.

I'm actually against all kinds of steeples, be they Christian or Muslim or whatever other religion.

Side: yes
niceguy321(6) Disputed
2 points

First of all, building minarets in countries like Switzerland is a far different act than what the Ottoman Empire did. Yes, this can be a method of emphasizing the religion's activity in the region, however it is very different to do so as an empire attempting to conquer, and a small minority of people simply trying to worship. This is not necessarily landmarking but an expression a religions beauty and religious operation within the area.

You seem to be so pro-mullticularism whilst at the same time disapprove of when individuals of different faiths from your own attempt to construct memorable and representative structures which symbolize their beliefs.

Secondly, not every religion has loud calls of prayers, thus it would be highly unlikely to have such a system, where calls of prayers distrub one's day. In fact, you are over-exxagerating this as their are only 4 minarets in the whole of switzerland.

This is a ban on buildings of religious worship!, for a mosque consists of minarets, without them one is loosing a fundamental strucutural part of the entire mosque experience. It doesn't matter if you yourself are against church steeples as well, that doesn't change the fact that only minarets, which belong to the muslim faith are being banned, not architecturally significant landmarks from other religions. THat constitutes this as a xenophobic action from the people of Switzerland. It is unlawful to restrict the people of one religion from building their structures and allow everyone else to construct theirs. THis is a horrible violation of the laws of the muslim people.

Side: No
1 point

EXACTLY as you say ..................................................................................i agree.

Side: yes
2 points

It's very interesting how the media buried the story so quickly. It's almost like they are afraid that this will sparkle a war or something.

I also despise the way in which all the newspapers made it appear as if all of Europe was united in condemning the outcome of this vote. When in fact, if you look at the forums, people are gathering in hordes from all over the world to celebrate it.

If only this kind of direct democracy was practiced more often in our countries!

Side: yes
1 point

First of all, building minarets in countries like Switzerland is a far different act than what the Ottoman Empire did. Yes, this can be a method of emphasizing the religion's activity in the region, however it is very different to do so as an empire attempting to conquer, and a small minority of people simply trying to worship. This is not necessarily landmarking but an expression a religions beauty and religious operation within the area.

You seem to be so pro-mullticularism whilst at the same time disapprove of when individuals of different faiths from your own attempt to construct memorable and representative structures which symbolize their beliefs.

Secondly, not every religion has loud calls of prayers, thus it would be highly unlikely to have such a system, where calls of prayers distrub one's day. In fact, you are over-exxagerating this as their are only 4 minarets in the whole of switzerland.

This is a ban on buildings of religious worship!, for a mosque consists of minarets, without them one is loosing a fundamental strucutural part of the entire mosque experience. It doesn't matter if you yourself are against church steeples as well, that doesn't change the fact that only minarets, which belong to the muslim faith are being banned, not architecturally significant landmarks from other religions. THat constitutes this as a xenophobic action from the people of Switzerland. It is unlawful to restrict the people of one religion from building their structures and allow everyone else to construct theirs. THis is a horrible violation of the rights of the muslim people.

Side: No
1 point

Also, those who do support the minaret ban are simply acting in a xenophobic manner, for there is no ethical and moral support to this in a free and open society.

Side: No
2 points

Also, don't say that the you support this ban simply because wahhabis or salafis pay for the construction of minarets. You buy their oil and maintain solid relations with Saudi Arabia and other arab nations for this reason. Therefore, you are being hypocritical, you will openly recognize, trade, with them and grant their citizens visas, however you don't like when they pay for all the money you give them for oil.

Side: No