A radical left-wing Muslim politician has been forced to resign after posting a video to Instagram of herself using a picture of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus for shooting practice.
32-year-old Sanija Ameti, who argued she had “no idea” the image had any religious significance, was a Green Liberal Party (GLP) city councilor of Zurich in Switzerland before she was thrown out of her political party.
The backlash was so intense that Ameti also lost her job at a public relations consulting firm.
Ameti, whose recent publicity stunts have included distributing condoms to fight “xenophobia,” uploaded a video of herself using a print of a 14th-century painting of Mary and Jesus for handgun target practice.
The politician, who migrated to Switzerland from Bosnia, has since received threats after the act and is now in receipt of police protection.
Meanwhile, left-wing quarters of Swiss society have called for forgiveness, including Swiss Catholics.
The Swiss Catholic Women’s Association describes Ameti as a “media-savvy lawyer known for her provocative demeanour… Ameti’s Muslim family fled from Bosnia to Switzerland in 1995 with Sanija, who was three years old at the time and who now describes herself as an agnostic.”
It also reminds its members that “As Christians, we are called upon to forgive.”
Swiss conservative magazine Die Weltwoche also issued a gentle response to the video, saying that while Ameti’s act was “unnecessary and tasteless” and that it “hurt the feelings of religious people,” nevertheless, “there is no right not to be insulted” in an open and free society.
The paper also notes that there needs to be room for disrespect and stupidity, adding, “Anyone who is against cancel culture stands by Ameti—even and especially if you do not share her views and actions.”
The paper argues that the politicians ‘ disrespect is far less dangerous to Switzerland than her political views on dragging the long-neutral country into the embrace of the European Union.
Ameti had since issued an apology and written to Swiss Bishops to ask for forgiveness while still arguing she didn’t realize the religious significance of Mary and Jesus before she decided to start shooting.
“I deleted it immediately when I realized its religious content. I didn’t think about it,” she wrote.
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