In a response to the story of Switzerland's citizens voting to ban minarets from the country's Muslim mosques, Baptist Joint Committee Director Brent Walker laments that this action "strikes at the very heart of Islam (or any religion): the architecture of the house of worship and, therefore, worship itself." Continuing he warns:
I'm sorry to say, I think we'll see more of this politically driven religious intolerance. Inspired by ethnocentrism and ignorance, we fear what is different from us and what we don't understand; what we fear we instinctively lash out against.
It's hard to argue with Rev. Walker's pessimistic prediction on this front. Sometimes it seems like our growing diversity is forever 2 steps ahead of our ability as a society to tolerate, respect and love all people despite those differences. Still, I do believe we will move forward, if for no other reason than that we must.
