The Swiss minaret vote - oppressive or acceptable?

The news that a referendum in Switzerland has banned minarets from being constructed in the country will spark debate around the globe.

A minaret I understand is a tall spire structure distinctive to Islam culture, and in modern contexts is usually built onto mosques as a symbol of the religion. The vote is seen by some groups as an indication that anti-Islam feeling is present and Switzerland, and is indeed present, and spreading, throughout continental Europe, but is this really the case?

I must admit, when I first heard of this story through word of mouth, I got the impression that these minarets were everywhere, and that they were of fairly substantial size and prominence.

There are four in the entire country.

During my ignorant phase, I thought to myself that this vote could only be a good thing. Surely if these minarets are everywhere, in a mainly Christian country, the minority were beginning to take hold? Now that I have all the facts, I find this story bordering on the disturbing.

I'm a person that supports expression of religion, but I also think that in any given country, the majority religion should get preference in the way it displays itself, etc. If there were minarets on every second corner of Dublin, I'll admit I'd be slightly outraged, even though I'm not a hugely religious person. Let's put that into perspective. Would you really expect, in a Muslim country, to build a Christian Church with the symbol of the cross on top of it without causing mass uproar? I wouldn't bet on it.

In a presumably more tolerant west, we allow places of worship for all religions, and rightly so, but if they start to take prominence from the country's religion, that doesn't really sit right with me for whatever reason.

However, I digress. Let me repeat what I said above about the minarets in Switzerland. There are four in the entire country. Four. And they are, from what I've seen, rather humble in size. This vote really starts to stink of oppression on closer inspection. I can't find a possible way to justify this vote that isn't a dressing up of blatant oppression. I may sound like a hypocrite but there's distinct differences between what I condone in ways of national religion superiority and what the Swiss public is after doing. If there were minarets dotting the skyline, then yes, I feel they would be justified in reaching this decision. But there are FOUR in the whole country. This is nitpicking and pettiness, nothing more.

Muslims may not be entirely tolerant of our cultures though, even as they live in them. I've heard of an Irish woman on a bus in Dublin city, saying "God bless me" after she had sneezed, and being promptly told by a Muslim woman sitting across from her that she had been offended by her use of the word "God". If this is widespread it should be addressed, although there is very little we can do.

Except stop regressing and lead by example in the way of tolerance perhaps?