It does rather make me wonder about the definition of a minaret though. I can think of many Mosques I know in the Manchester area that are converted Christian churches. Now if those buildings have church towers, does that make those towers minarets? Or vice versa - if a Muslim community sold their building to a Christian community, would the minaret still be a minaret?? It would be funny if it wasn’t scary.

There’s a minaret at the end of my road, and it’s lovely.

It’s funny how the fascists are suddenly all about democracy. Well it would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous.
I’d say we need to be in solidarity with our muslim brothers and sisters, in one of two ways. Either we build minarets all over the place (on cars, on houses, on our houses of prayer, etc), or we start arguing for a ban on church towers. Once the law is passed, we may even be able to push a legal procedure so that the law is interpreted to include church towers… hmmm.

My analysis would also tentatively question towers as perhaps phallo-centric…symbols that exalt men/masculinity and male power. (As do missiles, etc.) I am not sure that this enters into the discussion too much, but another thing to consider.

As I think about my experience with towers, I believe it is mostly formed by personal opinion. My mother never liked steeples. Too showy, she said. I know at least one architect that is helping churches think through how their building/building plans do or do not reflect their theology. And usually steeples are not a part of the blueprint.