Culture War Lite

Government must guarantee freedom from religion

When religion ventures into the public arena, things come to a head – as in Berlin, where the church is calling for a referendum on religious instruction in schools. The government, however, had already made socialist ethics a mandatory subject, so religion could only be taken in conjunction with secular ethical teaching.

The status quo was upset so the church literally took to the streets. In order to get the “Religion Instead of Ethics” measure on the ballot, they would have to collect 170,000 signatures. It is reminiscent of the 1950s when all was still normal in Berlin. Third hour of the school day saw Protestants and Catholics in their respective religion classes. Jews and heathens (no Muslims yet) milled about in the hallways. They were “marginalized” and naturally suffered serious psychological damage.

That’s all in the past. Since those days, Germany has steadily and relentlessly secularized. These days, only one-quarter of Protestant students in Berlin take elective religious instruction. The fact that the kids are required to take “ethics” and not “religion” doesn’t leave a level playing field so that’s why the church wants to mobilize the people. Let’s take a look at France and the United States, both of which have reached the same point, albeit via different roads. Both have freedom not only of, but also from religion – above all in the public arena. The French disenfranchised the church with their revolution; the Americans have always kept the two separated.

There is no religion in public schools. Kids either get their religious instruction from at private religious schools or, as in the United States, at Sunday School. So there’s one less headache. In Germany everything had been running well when there was an established duopoly (Roman Catholic and Protestant Lutheran) that, under Bismarck, was rounded up to a 3-way monopoly with the inclusion of the Jews. These three are “entities of public right,” enjoying many privileges. But the three-way monopoly has long since begun showing signs of instability due to pressure from the competition.

Under a “red-red” government, non-believers in Berlin have, to all intents and purposes, become the most powerful religion (see the adoption of ethics, above). Muslims (Sunnis) have managed a toehold. Left completely out are the Hindus, Buddhists, Adventists, Baptists, Shiites and liberal Jews (who, in competition with the Central Council of Jews in Germany, build their own communities). Sure, they’re all blessed after their own fashion but why shouldn’t their particular religions also be taught in school?

Or, to put it another way: get rid of all public religion. Except Germany, unfortunately, doesn’t have this option, since Article 7 GG of the Basic Law for Germany establishes religion as a recognized discipline. So all that’s left is to continue the fight. Practical America has the right idea: there may be a Christmas tree in the White House, but it’s decorated with liberty bells instead of Christian symbols. Amen.