Religious criticism
January 12, 2010
You have to be grateful to the head of the German Protestant Church, the Lutheran bishop of Hanover, Margot Kaessmann. Not just for her New Year's sermon in which she questioned the current Afghanistan policy simply by pointing out that the logic used thus far to rationalize the war didn't make much sense. But also on a more fundamental level for giving the German public the opportunity right at the beginning of 2010 to think about what role religous leaders in our society really play.
Here in Germany, politicians at the national, state and local level like to point to the support they get from religious leaders. But they're all the more irritated when they don't get as much support as they expect or when their political actions are questioned and their arguments are scrutinized for accuracy.
Perhaps in the public debates of the last few years the churches have failed to taken enough of a role in criticizing the state.
If they were to do so, the religious communities would be taking part in the long and good tradition of the Old Testament prophets. The prophets had precisely this responsibility of challenging in the name of God the current but unquestioned everyday practices on behalf of the widows, orphans, the sick and the weak
In our society the church has the same duty to challenge the logic of the prevailing customs and the plausibility of the military's logic.
The church is not the pap for a feel-good society, nor the grease that keeps the political machine running. And the days of blessing weapons before they're sent off to be used in war are long gone. Nobody wants to go back to them. The current minister of defense, in contrast to his predecessor, is willing to speak of war and has even hinted that the notion of Afghanistan becoming a modern democracy based on Western models should be abandoned. It's only a small step from there Kaessmann's New Year's Day comments.
Or is this just the old macho perceptions that women should keep quiet in church at work? It can't be entirely ruled out. Perhaps this is the challenge that faces Kaessmann this year.
Joerg Vins is the head of the religious affairs editor at German public broadcaster SWR.
Editor: Chuck Penfold