minaret ban

(Newser) - The recent passage of a ban on minarets so irked a Swiss businessman that he’s added one to his company headquarters. Shoe-store-chain owner (and non-Muslim) Guillaume Morand calls “shameful” the 57% of voters who approved the right-wing effort to keep the Muslim towers from the country’s skyline....

(Newser) - People of all faiths, but especially Muslims, must “refrain from ostentation and practice their religion in humble discretion,” Nicolas Sarkozy opined today, sympathizing with the Swiss voters who approved a minaret ban last week. In a column in Le Monde, the French president warned Muslims that doing anything...

(Newser) - The right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) got a surprising shot in the arm with Sunday’s vote to ban minarets in the country. Though it’s been growing rapidly since its 1980s inception, the SVP has had little success in referenda until now, with critics accusing it of racism...