Exclusion and Embrace

Yesterday, first advent sunday, two significant things happened, one a reason to rejoice, the other, a reason to despair.

Exclusion: The Swiss people in an act motivated by fear and ignorance accepted a popular referendum that prohibits the construction of new minarets in Switzerland. This appalling vote, which did a lot of damage even aside of its sad result, demonstrates an act of exclusion. The majority of Swiss people don't want a multi-cultural, multi-religous society. They have not realized that that is not their call. Nor do they seem to be aware that such an act of exclusion today will create more tension and violence they wish to have.

A friend wondered: let's say a muslim community buys one of the empty church buildings, will they have to tear down the church tower? All of a sudden the Swiss want to be Christian and they apparently don't want to have practising Muslims in their neighborhood. For the real reason of this vote was not the Minarets, but the presence of Islam, of other religions and other cultures as such. Never mind that many people don't understand the difference between culture and religion......

Embrace: The Reformed and the Mennonites officially and on a national level celebrated their reconciliation. The Reformed severely persecuted the Anabaptists of the 16th century, fathers and mothers of today's Mennonites. The Anabaptists for their part looked at the Reformed with self-righteous arrogance. Yesterday, after a three-year dialogue and many other steps over decades, they expressed their reconciliation in a moving and meaningful service at the Friedenskirche in Bern, under the theme "Christ is our Peace".

As the institutional church declines, and the Swiss seemingly want to be exclusively Christian, this embracing each other will hopefully lead to more common action towards truth and mercy, so that we won't eternally continue to export weapons while at the same time excluding those who flee from situations where these weapons are being used.