The Swiss ban makes me shudder

[CHIMO]

It's a crude reaction but it's the first one I had on hearing that the Swiss had voted to ban the building of minarets on mosques – the same reaction I have to the increasingly-frequent stories like it: how would I feel if this were not about them, but us? How, in other words, would I react if this latest attack were not on Muslims but on Jews?

It's crude because no two situations are ever exactly the same, and Muslims and Jews have different histories – in Switzerland and everywhere else. But it's useful, allowing the testing of any proposition against an almost instinctive yardstick of decency.

So how would I react if the Swiss voted to restrict the way synagogues are built? With horror, of course. Indeed, the mere hint of such a proposal in the heart of Europe – given the blood-soaked history of the 20th century – would send a shudder down the collective spine. That reaction alone would tell me that, on this proposal, there was only one decent place to be – against it.

Which leads me to guess that the minaret ban will have one consequence its advocates did not predict. I reckon there'll be rather more Swiss Muslims going to the mosque this week than there were last. That's how people react when they're threatened. Don't ask me how I know.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/dec/01/swiss-minaret-vote-islam

I predict a huge surge in minarets. Perhaps with a bubble at the end. Wonder how one defines a minaret. Or a grosaret?