Mariam Lau on religious freedom in Germany

Mariam Lau expresses her views in the dispute about mosques in Germany and reminds critics such as Necla Kelek and Ralph Giordano that religious freedom cannot be dependent on concessions or moods. "If religious freedom in Germany is tied up with aesthetic criteria or other requirements in different areas, for instance integration, it is a lost cause. If the argument prevails that mosques are not good places because men and women pray separately there, tomorrow it will be used against orthodox synagogues, where this is also the case... The general attack against Islam needs to clarify the following inconsistency: on the one hand Muslims are being told that unless they accept the separation of state and religion, Islam will never be compatible with democracy - which is true. But on the other hand Islam is being held responsible for everything: the bad school reports, the 'honour killings' and violence against women, the jobless youths. Mosques should prove themselves in these issues before they are allowed to be built."

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