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A Swiss vote to ban the construction of minarets at Muslim houses of worship sent ripples of surprise and dismay across Europe and Islamic countries at the end of November, even as opponents vowed to challenge the results.

“We are really sad—for ourselves and for Switzerland’s place in the world,” said Geneva Muslim leader Hafid Ourardiri, after 57.5 percent of Swiss voted in favor of the ban. “This is not good for our country—and Switzerland is our country.”

For many American Christians, the religious experience of modern Western Europe offers a dire warning. European church membership has been in free fall for a generation. Each new survey shows ever-growing numbers willing to proclaim themselves totally nonreligious. Meanwhile, burgeoning Muslim populations lead some observers to warn grimly of a coming Eurabia, a continent dominated by the most reactionary forms of Islamic fun damentalism. While native Christian populations have extraordinarily low fertility rates, immigrant Muslims continue to raise large families.

In a ceremony recalling the 13 people gunned down in an attack five days earlier at Fort Hood, Texas, President Obama said the tragedy cannot be supported by any faith. “It may be hard to comprehend the twisted logic that led to this tragedy,” said Obama at a memorial service November 10 on the army base.

“But this much we do know: no faith justifies these murderous and craven acts,” he said. “No just and loving God looks upon them with favor. For what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice in this world and the next.”

Among the leads investigators explored as they sought to uncover what motivated Major Nidal M. Hasan to kill 13 fellow soldiers in early No vember at Fort Hood in Texas was his apparent worry that serving in the U.S. Army compromised his Muslim faith.

As his deployment to Afghanistan loomed, Hasan faced the possibility of killing innocent Muslims, or at least abetting an army responsible for killing thousands of fellow Muslims.