I glanced over the article finding no new ideas until I got to the sneaky last paragraph and the following comments.
"Many Europeans in our day look at the old Christian churches in a manner wholly devoid of faith. They perceive them as purely cultural objects, which they are as well. Now this is very hard to do with minarets, even with what remains of Muslim architecture in Spain. In minarets, old and new alike, religion reigns supreme, alone, despotic. Which is an intrinsically negative factor for present-day Europe."
I've written my essential thoughts below and wonder how my neighbors at Red Room feel about the subject. I hope you will have time to leave a comment.
Unfortunately, I can’t agree with you. Minarets are a lovely architectural form. They give interest for the eye within the city landscape. More minarets should be built not fewer, for variety and beauty of the city.
Racists will use any symbol to depict as villainous to serve their purpose, whether their accusations are reasonable or not.
The great religions of the world as we know them now will evolve into other forms in time. But human spirituality will still look to the historical art, architecture and literature of the past. So we need to honor the religious cultural designs in their many beautiful forms.
But we must work past the stubborn tendency for these religions to stay firmly rooted in a past that doesn’t speak to us today in any real way, not in a way that resonates with most people anyway.
Religion needs to step into the millennium just as we each are interpreting our personal spiritual being.
("Islam good for Europe?" found on AlejandroGlenti at http://su.pr/1qRR5A)