A minaret in every village?

The Swiss are trying to hold back time, writes the writer Oscar van den Boogaard in his column for the daily De Standaard. In his view many fail to see that if migration means change, it also brings a vital contribution to society: "Why not say yes to minarets? Why not embrace change? There's no such thing as a neutral society. Let every individual live out his own freedom and convictions, provided he respects those of others. ... How soulless Flemish country life has become. The villages are abandoned, the churches empty. Shutters remain closed, and people no longer sit before their doors on summer evenings. Nature is ruined and overplanned, while everyone has locked themselves away in their own little palaces, feeling like cosmopolitans because they're connected to the Internet. Could it be that we're envious of minarets because they adorn places that are attended by people who willingly call each other brothers and sisters?"

» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Religion, » Integration, » Belgium, » Switzerland
All available articles from » Oscar van den Boogaard

» To the complete press review of Friday, December 4, 2009