25,000 Swiss citizens sign petition asking not to remove crucifixes from public places

Nearly 25,000 Swiss citizens signed a petition filed November 4 in the Swiss Federal Chancellery. Signatories are asking not to remove crucifixes from the republic’s public facilities, reports Sedmitza.ru.

It was the Der Neue Rütlibund conservative Christian organization that proposed to file a petition of this kind in May 2016.

The petition’s authors demand that “Christian symbols be kept and installed without hindrance in public spaces—in buildings, schools, and public places.”

According to Der Neue Rütlibund president Pirmin Müller, the petition is a reaction to the attempts to ban the installation of crosses in public places.

“Our state should be religiously neutral,” the petition reads. “But public space is not the same as the state: it can and should be the mirror of our history which is steeped in Christianity, our identity and our culture, our traditions and our values.”

Der Neue Rütlibund was founded in 1990. Its objectives include the defense of Christian morals, human dignity and family. Recently the association has also prepared a petition against pornography and violence on TV.