An immigrant group based in Bern has called for the emblematic white cross to be removed from the Swiss national flag because as a Christian symbol it "no longer corresponds to today's multicultural Switzerland."Read the rest here.
Ivica Petrusic, the vice president of Second@s Plus, a lobbying group that represents mostly Muslim second-generation foreigners in Switzerland (who colloquially are known as secondos) says the group will launch a nationwide campaign in October to ask Swiss citizens to consider adopting a flag that is less offensive to Muslim immigrants.
In a September 18 interview with the Swiss newspaper Aargauer Zeitung, Petrusic said the cross has a Christian background and while the Christian roots of Switzerland should be respected, "it is necessary to separate church and state" because "Switzerland today has a great religious and cultural diversity. One has to ask if the State wants to continue building up a symbol in which many people no longer believe."
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They should also lobby to have the crescent removed from the flags of their families' countries of origin, too, if they are to be consistent - especially in nations with significant Christian histories (e.g., Turkey) or minorities.
ReplyDeleteThey are being consistent. The West endlessly promotes itself as secular and multi-cultural while the Muslim East makes clear that it is uni-cultural and minorities are tolerated at best.
ReplyDeleteStand fast, Switzerland!
ReplyDelete