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Matt,

I fully admit that I have little knowledge of this issue in Switzerland.  Perhaps it is far more sinister than I realize, but my initial impulse is to give the Swiss people the benefit of the doubt.  I am quite sure that the actual situation is far more complicated than the headlines would imply.  I am going to assume that the Swiss are kind and intelligent people who have for some reason taken an action that could be regarded as mean and stupid by those who are quicker to judge.  I ultimately believe in the aggregate wisdom of democracy, and if this issue was so developed that it actually made it on the ballot for a national referendum, there must be more to it than meets the eye.  It is important to have respect and tolerance for--and faith in--others.

Unlike BigC, I would never condemn an entire culture.  Unlike Momo, I am not going to pretend I understand the Swiss attitude, or how "Swiss men" think.  Unlike you, I am not going to make any judgements about Swiss idiocy or illiberalism.  I am an American, not a self-righteous, condescending European bastard.

I have no idea why Europeans feel the need to provoke Muslims needlessly with tasteless cartoons and then jump into the fortified trench of Free Speech like sniping cowards.  I can't understand why they feel the need to protect the supposed Secularism of their nation by banning head scarves.  I don't know why they would pass a law banning the building of minarets.  We do not do such things in America because they are idiotic and illiberal, but that is the way the social model works OVER HERE.  Since you are not over here, I am going to assume that you relentless schmucks have an entirely different reasoning at work, and have faith that you are kind and intelligent people who have arrived at your decisions with wise and careful thought.

If Europeans feel the need to pass quaint laws protecting their Swissness, Frenchness, Daneness, or Britishness, then who am I to judge?  Or you?  If they don't they are going to wind up with a cosmopolitan free-for-all like America, which the majority of Europeans just could not stomach.  If you truly were tolerant and liberal, you would have to live with the fact that some people actually do enjoy Disneyland, Coca-Cola, and "chicken fat milkshakes" (Which appears to be some sort of urban legend popular in Britain.) and that they have the right to enjoy their leisure or pleasures how they choose and without your smug judgements.

As far as I can tell, Switzerland has not banned Muslim immigration, the observance of Ramadan, or the reading of the Koran.  For whatever reason, they don't want to see minarets, which is an entirely disposable aspect of the Muslim faith.  The law can be changed to be less specifically discriminatory if need be, or it can be overturned in EU courts if need be.  Have faith in people and faith in the system and stop being such self-righteous, proselytizing judgementalists.