FWIW, Switzerland is a very regulated society. No, you can't
just build any building as you please, in any colour that you
please, it has to fit in with the rest of the buildings and
scenery. That is how they achieve that pretty postcard
scenery, which tourists value so highly and tourism is a huge
business for Switzerland. Minarets would simply not fit in
with what is considered Swiss heritage and culture.

Next, yup the Swiss are commonly pissed off, with the swarm
of asylum seekers which they accepted in good faith. Most
are Muslims and now we've had the call for Sharia law and
all the rest that goes with Islam. Most Swiss just wish they
would leave.

Why is it that it is seemingly ok for the Japanese, Chinese,
Arabs, Africans, Indians etc to preserve their cultures, but
its not ok for Central Europeans?

CJ Morgan "I'm tired of arguing with tendentious twats"

CJ Morgan "Huh? I tolerate posters who disagree with me all the time - however, some like you can't tolerate it when I point out their hatred. Tolerance doesn't mean that you have to like people or their opinions, but rather that you acknowledge their right to have opinions, however distasteful they may be."

There's some of that famous intolerence in action.

You are such a hypocrit, which is why people constantly call you on it, but of course you have selective memory, must be a "senior" moment thing eh?

No it's not hatred I have CJ it's intolerence of the intolerent, you though are selectively intolerent, call a spade a spade mate.

I support people who make a stand and use their vote, in a democracy to oppose those who use political correctness and discrimination laws against the majority.

The Swiss now have a MANDATE to stop minarets being built, good on them, they have faced down a minority of loud intolerent beligerent people, and in the process gained some pride that they, unlike us, have the aggats to make necessary decisions, and be proud of them.

What do you suggest we replace majority rule with? The ABC's Media watch? This nations left is becoming one big vacuous whiney moan.

Mikk, if someone wants to raise a referendum against church steeples, good on them, if that's what the majority want. That's called democracy - we don't need lawyers or bleeding hearts involved, just the people and their will.

All Islamic countries ban Christian churches?
Not true.

Visual depictions are banned in Saudi Arabia but it can be practiced in private. There are over a million christian foreign workers in Saudi at any time. Shia Muslims are not tolerated in Saudi as well.

Saudi Arabia is not the world's spokeman for all of Islam just as the Vatican does not speak for all of Christianity,

Christians are repressed or treated as second-class citizens in some other (but not all) Middle Eastern countries, just as Jews were treated by Christians only decades ago.

The largest Muslim country in the world is Indonesia where about 10% of the population are Protestants or Catholics and six religions are officially recognised.

There is also repression within and among Hindu societies as well.

Many in Australia may remember the Catholic/Protestant intolerance that was happening across the whole country and how families were split by intermarriage.

Perhaps it's just the nature of religion generally - intolerance and fear of "the other".

Nevertheless they are within their rights to ban minarets if they feel threatened by them. I'd prefer to ban mobile phone towers.

"Five of the nine positions on Byron Bay Council are held by Greens and their hard line on the "planned retreat" policy, to encourage waterfront property owners to relocate, has infuriated locals and triggered a showdown with the powers-that-be in distant Sydney.
Separately, the council plans to stop non-residents who own property in designated parts of the Byron Shire from renting out their property unless they live there most of the time." The Australian September 22, 2009
Are these examples of "tyranny of the majority" or just expected outcomes from a democratically elected Council?

The Swiss have every right to protect their culture if they feel it is under threat. And if you actually take a good look at the various Islamic states around the world then they have very good reasons to be worried. Islam is every bit as xenophobic and arrogant as the Christianity that followed behind the European colonisation of preceding centuries. Both monotheistic cultures have demonstrated a zero care factor with regards to indigenous cultures and peoples. Hence it's time to neuter these horrible religions. De-recting the minaret phallus is a good start.

stevenlmeyer, you said

"Democracy is about more than majority rules. It is about due process, equal treatment under the law, the right to say things which are unpopular and so on. That is why countries like the US have constitutions that embed certain rights that cannot be overridden by a simple majority. Maybe they've carried rule by judge too far in the US; but I think on the whole it is better than majoritarianism".

That is right. But remember a majority of Australians too support the ideal you talk about (tolerance to cultures), at least thus far, although its tolerance can also be tested by backward cultures.