I have read several cogent and well-written articles on Switzerland's recent r
eferendum banning the construction of minarets within the country (as well as some terribly idiotic articles); however, this one by Mark LeVine of Al-Jazeera is certainly one of the most interesting articles I have read on the referendum. LeVine expands the debate beyond the alleged conflict between the "West" and "Islam" (I apologize for the broad generalizations in both those terms) and instead focuses on several socioeconomic factors contributing to the Swiss' perception of Muslims, Islam and the symbol of the minaret in Swiss society.
And herein lies the real problem underlying the vote. It is not merely about Islam. It is also about the solidification of neo-liberalism economically and conservatism politically across the continent, and ultimately, about globalisation more broadly.
Together, the political, economic and social dynamics are creating a situation in which governments are less able to deliver the high level of services that post-war Europeans have gotten used to, at the moment that ideologically, people areincreasingly unwilling to look out for their fellow citizens' welfare as they did previously - when, of course, they also happened to look, speak and act much more like them.
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But if history is any guide, Europeans will start out blaming the 'inside other' for their problems, but it will not be too long before their anger, and violence, turns on each other.
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Even Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, Switzerland's justice minister, admitted that the result "reflects fears among the population of Islamic fundamentalist tendencies," as if one cannot be Islamic without being fundamentalist.
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Either way, it is clear that Europe is going to become more Muslim in the coming decades. The question is whether in the process it will become more Islamic - that is, publicly religious and impacted by Muslim religious symbols and practices - and which version of Islam will define the emerging European Islam.
Will it be a "Euro-Islam" that respects core liberal values of tolerance, openness and respect for the rule of law, or a "Ghetto Islam" that produces subcultures that are largely isolated and hostile to the European self-image (one which, it must be remembered, largely excludes Muslims in the first place)?
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Just out of the hospital having been diagnosed with a kidney stone. Pretty painful. I am doped up pretty good right now with morphine. That being said, the pain I feel is nothing compared to the cultural pain that Europe is and will be going through regarding the increase in its Muslim population. Their fear, I am afraid, is well founded in that Europe has pretty much rejected "religion" as a whole. The secular humanist doctrine does not tolerate "true believers" well. In fact, without the active salt of a vibrant Christian population Europe some time in the near future (50 years) could explode again like it did in WWII. This focus they have on the "inner other" has long and deep history behind it. Mark my words though, it will be the Christ followers who will get blamed for most of the evil that may occur. It never ceased to amaze me that historians completely skip over the 20th Century and the death of hundreds of millions at the hands of secular humanists, communists, and fascists. Oh, well. We will bear our cross and keep on loving. Remember it was not a secular humanist movement that saved the Jews in Bulgaria from being shipped to the extermination camps... it was the Christ following community.
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