The shape of things to come....

[Beavis]

Marks and Spencer has launched an investigation after a customer claimed a Muslim shop assistant refused to handle a Bible she was buying.

Sally Friday said she felt “humiliated” after going to the till to pay for a First Bible Stories for her young grandson.

She said the woman behind the till refused to touch the book once she realised what it was, and made a reference to a fellow worker about being “unclean”.

[AtW]

If the MAJORITY of local residents are in favour of the minaret, then it should go ahead. It doesn't matter what the issue is, we live in a democracy and the majority vote should be allowed to stand.

Agree with what you said in the other parts of your post, however it is a complete bulltulip to say that majority rule is democracy, no it fking isn't - it's what "bolsheviks" were saying, so majority could opress minority or people claiming to be in majority could do that.

Democracy is a system that despite some majority views, the minorities are protected - it does not matter if its white, black or grey majority.

[Pondlife]

Marks and Spencer has launched an investigation after a customer claimed a Muslim shop assistant refused to handle a Bible she was buying.

Sally Friday said she felt “humiliated” after going to the till to pay for a First Bible Stories for her young grandson.

She said the woman behind the till refused to touch the book once she realised what it was, and made a reference to a fellow worker about being “unclean”.

I am not racist but I have vowed never to let a person wearing a headdress serve me again

Quality

[DimPrawn]

I am not racist but I have vowed never to let a person wearing a headdress serve me again.

Wise words. Once a Native American Chief served me a hamburger and it was cold.

[milanbenes]

beavis there will always be such anecdotes on both sides.

Alright folks, I am closing this thread.

The subject has been thrashed out and the conclusion is the loud speaker should go ahead as it is a democratic decision

Everybody has agreed that's what's good for one is good for another and in a multidiversified modern country like the UK different faiths may operate in parallel ringing their bells and sounding their loud speakers

Personally I can't wait to go to Oxford and see this, it could become a bigger tourist draw than the town itself

Think how much people will save on flights, who needs to visit Istanbul when they can visit Oxford

This subject is therefore now officially closed.

Time for someone else to start an interesting thread.

Milan.

[TimberWolf]

If the MAJORITY of local residents are in favour of the minaret, then it should go ahead. It doesn't matter what the issue is, we live in a democracy and the majority vote should be allowed to stand.

There’s probably more than a little paranoia and propaganda in the following observation, but word in the meedya today is that what you describe could lead to Muslim ghettos. That is, the non-Muslims moving out. My own take on the issue is that chanting Christians concern me as much as Muslims doing their thing, so I dislike them all equally.

[gingerjedi]

I just find it bizarre that so many Muslims that take residence in a reasonably democratic and free country practice a strict form of Islam which requires women to be completly coverd, yet you look at a Muslim country like Iran and the women are practicaly rebelling against it... some even dare to show a bit of hair!

[milanbenes]

same phenomenen in Quebec, French Canadians are more French than the French.

Milan.

[sasguru]

I just find it bizarre that so many Muslims that take residence in a reasonably democratic and free country practice a strict form of Islam which requires women to be completly coverd, yet you look at a Muslim country like Iran and the women are practicaly rebelling against it... some even dare to show a bit of hair!

This is a fairly new phenomenon. I don't recall covered up Muslims in the 80s and yet there were quite a few back then.

[Ardesco]

This is really only the concern of local residents, and should be treated as a community issue. Similiar to a planning application where only the concened parties are allowed to air their grievences.

If the MAJORITY of local residents are in favour of the minaret, then it should go ahead. It doesn't matter what the issue is, we live in a democracy and the majority vote should be allowed to stand.

Can't believe the narrow mindedness of some people on this forum. Lots of muslims I know are level-headed, hard working and family orientated people.

To address the balance of this thread, I'll speak for the 'other side', see what people make of it.

- Go to any High St on a Fri/Sat night, and you'll be hard pushed to find a muslim getting p!ssed or drunk causing problems for everyone.

- Look at their family structure (also for Sikhs & Hindus) and they always look after their elders, whilst we just shove our parents in a home.

- Hard working, and putting in long hours. Can't imagine too many of us doing what they do.

So they're not that bad after all. I think our 'Britishness' is in doubt because we don't know what it means to be British. Getting drunk, spending all hours in the pub, teeenage pregnancies, hoodies, pornography, football hooliganism - by and large, this is not caused by muslims, and for me, these are qualities I wish we embrased more in our society.

I think we need to take a look at ourselves a bit more, and find out what it is we are really trying to protect in our Britishness.

Nobody has said that Muslims should not have a temple in Oxford. Noboday has said that muslims are bad people who should be shot and persecuted and nobody has said that muslims are not hard working, don't look after thier family, or should be looked down upon because they don't go out on the lash.

It was simply stated that there shouldn't be a great big bloody microphone blasting a call to prayer out across Oxford.

You are again doing the classic PC thing of accusing us of racism and xenophobia just because we don't want one thing that an ethnic minority wants....

Pot? Kettle?