The controversy over minarets in Switzerland: cosmopolitanism and religious symbols in the public sphere

Abstract

Religious beliefs and practices – including symbols, customs, clothes and buildings – not only play a significant role in forming the religious and cultural identities of believers, but also make major contributions to the socio-cultural and moral fabric of the wider communities. However, these religious expressions and beliefs also sometimes cause controversy due to conflicting perceptions of them in modern, secular settings. In recent years, Europe has witnessed various controversies, including regarding Islamic face-covering veils in Belgium and France; the publication of provocative cartoons in Denmark; and in the UK, the enactment of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act in England and Wales; Archbishop Rowan Williams’ lecture on Sharia Law; and various legal cases concerning the expression of religious views in the public services. These controversies reflect complex issues involving religious freedom, community identity, social integration, the secular state and constitutional and public laws. The above controversies may be regarded as clashes of differing cosmopolitan values between religious freedom and secular ideology, respect for faith and freedom of expression, or minority and majority tensions within a nation or society (see Kim 2011: 195-211). Religion in modern and secular societies is often regarded as a private matter or even in opposition to cosmopolitanism, but as I will demonstrate in this chapter, there is much in common between cosmopolitanism and religious diversity particularly when it comes to the public issues above. Although there are many differences, and even conflicting views, between scholars of cosmopolitanism and religion respectively, the search for an appropriate methodology or mechanism for recognizing religions in the public sphere is common to both camps. Walter D. Mignolo (2000: 721-48) argues for ‘critical and dialogic cosmopolitanism’. He regards the challenges today as religious, ideological, ethnic and racial exclusions and calls for epistemic diversity or ‘diversality’ to be the ground for political and ethical cosmopolitan projects. Ulrich Beck and Natan Sznaider (2006: 1-23) insist that while globalization is taking place ‘out there’, ‘cosmopolitanization’ – a function of coerced choices or unconscious decisions – happens ‘from within’ as people in different contexts cooperate across the boundaries of nation-states. I would argue that religions are examples of such local and ‘from within’ movements, which draw on their religious texts, traditions and experiences in order to meet people’s spiritual, moraland ethical needs. Because, according to Robert Fine (2006: 49-67), cosmopolitanism tends to interact with politics and law whereas religious studies with ethics, morality and traditions, the disciplines rarely intersect. Considering that the religions are a major part of the diverse and locally generated ways of life which make up society, we should expect much more interaction. It is especially desirable that scholars from both disciplines utilize their findings to address such complex situations as the recent debates about religious freedom and secular values in Europe. This chapter focuses on one recent controversy: the dispute which arose in Switzerland about a proposal to build a minaret, which deeply divided public opinion. This chapter will examine the reason for this and assess the arguments for and against, raising questions of identity, value and integration, and introducing concepts of tolerance and critical dialogue. Last, I will discuss what the theological and religious studies approaches outlined have in common with cosmopolitanism. I shall argue that the minaret controversy represents the complex dynamics of both cosmopolitan and religious values in the public sphere and that, rather than the perceived interpretation of secular-religious dichotomy, some findings from public theology could help us to understand it.