Minaret ban

There's been a referendum in Switzerland today to stop the building of minarets. According to early reports, exit poll projections show that the initiative may have succeeded. Whether or not the projections are confirmed, this would be a grossly illiberal measure, a piece of rank religious discrimination, and I'm surprised that there are not entrenched clauses in the Swiss Constitution to prevent it. Amnesty International has said that a minaret ban would 'breach Switzerland's obligations to uphold freedom of religion'. Argument to the effect that the ban is justified because of the subordinate position of women within Islam is misguided. It uses opposition to one form of unjustified discrimination to uphold another. Discrimination against women should be opposed with the full force of the law and by every other legitimate means; but discrimination against one religion - its beliefs, its symbols, or its buildings - isn't one of these.