Who likes Joe Pesci?

He is a bit boring.

Not someone you would call your friend but someone you know exists. He is selfish, rich and just a little bit annoying. He will avoid involvement at all costs but when he does step up it’s generally out of self interest. He will relinquish a little if his hand is forced, otherwise he will keep everything locked down, tight, solid. He is someone we like and dislike in equal measure, he is Joe Pesci from Lethal Weapon.

He is Switzerland.

Ordinarily most people have no opinion on the country. Opinions normally range from dunno to don't care. It is quiet, unobtrusive and frequently confused with Sweden. It rarely sticks its head above the trench, internationally speaking that is. This is why it feels rather odd to have such international condemnation directed at this quiet Alpine country. News normally happens elsewhere, anywhere, anywhere except here.

The decision from 57.5% of the Swiss voting public to ban the building of new minarets is an example of pure democracy in action, ask the country a question and you might be surprised about the answer.

What would happen if we were, for example, to ask the British public if the death penalty should be reinstated for crimes such as pedophilia? I think you could guess the response.

Now lets be clear if this was an architectural argument I could understand, Minarets do tend to stand out and would look rather odd next to an Alpine chalet. This vote however was not based on aesthetics, more it was based on fear and conservatism in the extreme.

What the result boils down to essentially is, is a rejection of Islam and of religious freedom. It tells you - if you are not Christian, you are not welcome here. The infamous posters essentially said as much, their black and red colouring harking back to a dark period some 70 years ago, coupled with the Darth Vader imagery was anything but ambiguous.

What will be the result of this vote? Will this result in less Muslims on the ski-slopes? Will there be less risk of extremism? Less risk of a large, internationally powerful neighbour asking awkward questions?

Why-o-why did they decide this was worth the publicity? Surely the easy answer was to simply refuse all new planning permission or put a restriction of, say, 5 meters on all new religious buildings. There are enough Christian churches here to accommodate everyone already so no risk of offending the majority.

No, instead they have managed to ostracise 5% of the population and seriously piss off some very, very, dangerous people.

The Swiss government know as much, the justice minister was quick to point out that this result was “not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture”.

If not, then what is it?

Democracy is a good thing that's for sure, pure democracy has its limits and I fear the Swiss may have overstepped the limit this week.