The argument that religion can be practiced without minarets is
true. Following the same logic it could also be prohibit the construction
of churches, mosques, synagogues and other temples. Everybody could
always go, into his or her house, or better still in hiding, to live his
faith … all this would therefore be not a violation of the freedom of
belief.
All trials to dress in nice words this violation of a basic human right, which are now following to this shocking result, cannot stand in front of a ‘higher force’, namely the one of our consciousness.
Arms export ban initiative: An acceptance would destroy jobs, said
the opponents. The fact that Swiss population was following this argument so massively, or in other words, filling the stomach at the expense of transactions with death, makes us again feel shame and indignation. A well known German author wrote in the 30ies “First comes the stomach, then morality”, and that explains the vote result sufficiently. This too is not a glorious chapter for the majority of Swiss people.
Today, the majority appears to the outwards as open and tolerant Swiss
people, while in secret as intolerant and selfish hypocrite. If intolerance, hypocrisy and turning upside-down the meaning of declarations and constitutions are winning today majorities, then democracy is indeed in danger. But not by Islamic fundamentalists, but by irresponsible arsonists and also by our own spiritual and moral condition. Our country desperately needs a renovation.
It needs the voice of all those who reject all forms of violence and
call to create a non-violent consciousness. We reaffirm our part to
strengthen our initiatives *’World Without Wars and Violence’*, the
Humanist Party, the Humanist Network and the World March for Peace and
Nonviolence, and so to compensate this destructive and violent tendency
in our society.
We want neither discrimination nor trade with death. So we call on all
dedicated and non-violent forces to unite and to work together to
build a Universal Human Nation.
