http://www.kategriffin.net/2009/11/30/minarets/ Fantasy Author Kate Griffin Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:39:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.kategriffin.net/2009/11/30/minarets/comment-page-1/#comment-98 Ele Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:44:09 +0000 http://www.kategriffin.net/?p=379#comment-98 Very interesting topic. While it would take ages to explain the whens and the hows, I disagree with you about religion and faith (as a result of studying anthropology, mainly), but I do share your worry about where "wishy washy liberalism" is taking us. Unfortunately this kind of reasoning about religion can be found all over the place as we try to deal with having multicultural and multireligious societies... and in Italy in particular we just never get over it! Recently the EU court has actually ruled against the compulsory Catholic cross in all Italian state schools... But on the topic of minarets - did you know they want to build one on Brick Lane and that conservationists are outraged? It's quite an interesting story and it's London-related so you may want to investigate further :) Very interesting topic. While it would take ages to explain the whens and the hows, I disagree with you about religion and faith (as a result of studying anthropology, mainly), but I do share your worry about where “wishy washy liberalism” is taking us. Unfortunately this kind of reasoning about religion can be found all over the place as we try to deal with having multicultural and multireligious societies… and in Italy in particular we just never get over it! Recently the EU court has actually ruled against the compulsory Catholic cross in all Italian state schools…
But on the topic of minarets – did you know they want to build one on Brick Lane and that conservationists are outraged? It’s quite an interesting story and it’s London-related so you may want to investigate further

]]> http://www.kategriffin.net/2009/11/30/minarets/comment-page-1/#comment-94 AdrianH Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:10:26 +0000 http://www.kategriffin.net/?p=379#comment-94 Kate, you present a well crafted argument that I cannot but agree with. While I wouldn't describe myself as ‘atheist', per se, my ‘faith', for want of a better word involves a deity that, while it could be called ‘God', probably wouldn't be recognised by the authors of most holy books, because his basic tenets would be, “Don't poke your nose into other people's business", and, “I have better things to worry about than your petty, insignificant lives, so get over yourselves". However, when Authority, government or otherwise, starts dictating to people who have a faith that they can't openly display a symbol of that faith then I'm afraid that things appear to be teetering on the edge of a slippery slope that almost always ends in a murky swamp labled on a socialogical map 'Totalitarianism', be it right or left wing, Stalinism, Maoism, Nazism, whatever; and I'm very surprised that the Swiss, who are always portrayed as totally neutral, should follow this path. Their neutrality in future is going to be deeply suspect for a great many people, I fear. My humble opinion, which, as Kate points out, many have died to allow me to express, and I uphold the right of anyone else to disagree with. I guess Buddha is possibly someone who might smile and quietly nod his head... Kate, you present a well crafted argument that I cannot but agree with. While I wouldn’t describe myself as ‘atheist’, per se, my ‘faith’, for want of a better word involves a deity that, while it could be called ‘God’, probably wouldn’t be recognised by the authors of most holy books, because his basic tenets would be, “Don’t poke your nose into other people’s business”, and, “I have better things to worry about than your petty, insignificant lives, so get over yourselves”. However, when Authority, government or otherwise, starts dictating to people who have a faith that they can’t openly display a symbol of that faith then I’m afraid that things appear to be teetering on the edge of a slippery slope that almost always ends in a murky swamp labled on a socialogical map ‘Totalitarianism’, be it right or left wing, Stalinism, Maoism, Nazism, whatever; and I’m very surprised that the Swiss, who are always portrayed as totally neutral, should follow this path. Their neutrality in future is going to be deeply suspect for a great many people, I fear.
My humble opinion, which, as Kate points out, many have died to allow me to express, and I uphold the right of anyone else to disagree with. I guess Buddha is possibly someone who might smile and quietly nod his head…

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