Ah, Switzerland, what will we ever do with you?

I wish I could understand Swiss politics -- it seems like this small-but-disproportionately-important country is always full of surprises!!

A lot of the exmo community lauded Switzerland's recent decision to stop issuing Mormon-missionary visas to foreigners who don't have citizenship in the EU. On the Internet, there was kind of a vibe of "Go Switzerland -- way to stand up to those annoying people knocking on your doors!"

I was conflicted about it though. On the one hand, I think the Swiss are right to classify Mormon missions as being closer to an unpaid internship than to charity work, hence it's reasonable to classify it as employment. On the other hand, I don't know all of the details of the whole restricting-employment-to-Swiss-and-EU-citizens deal, so I don't know whether I agree with it or not. And, most importantly, it's not as though this move were part of a consistent system of making religious organizations play by the same rules as secular non-profits...

However, they're not too bad at international law. If a foreign (former) leader authorizes torture and openly admits to it -- even if his own country shields him from the law and its consequences -- he can't come to Switzerland, at least, without risking arrest. Even though we're talking about a big powerful country that a lot of little countries would be afraid to provoke. Go Switzerland!