Dialog International

East Germany the "most atheistic" of any region

The University of Chicago recently completed an international  survey on belief - Belief About God Across Time and Countries - and discovered that the eastern states of Germany -which comprised the former DDR - are today  hotbeds of non-belief:

"Atheism is strongest in northwest European countries such as Scandinavia and the former Soviet states (except for Poland). The former East Germany had the highest rate of people who said they never believed in God (59 percent); in comparison, 4 percent of Americans had that response."

Could this be a legacy of communist rule? No, because belief in God is growing in Russia.  The United States - a country that incarcerates and executes more of its citizens than any other developed county - remains a nation of believers.  Americans, furthermore, have a childlike belief in a "personal relationship" with God, while eastern Germans reject that notion:

Support for the concept that God is concerned with people in a personal way ranged from 8 percent in the former East Germany to 82 percent in the Philippines. In the United States, 68 percent of people surveyed held that view.

What could explain this stubborn refusal to believe among Germans in the east?  The ultra-conservative Catholic writer Martin Mosebach sees this as the perniciuos effect of Protestantism in the east Germany:  

Aber tatsächlich ist es so, dass der Protestantismus, so wie er sich im Osten entwickelt hat, mit seinem Hang zur Säkularisierung fast notwendig zur Schwächung des Glaubens geführt hat. Sonst hätte der Kommunismus den Glauben dort nicht so nachhaltig zerstören können.

(But it's a fact that Protestantism - as it developed in the east - with its secularizing tendencies resulted in a weakening of belief in God.  Otherwise communism never could have destroyed faith there so permanently.)

Mosebach is silent about how the child sexual abuse scandal has virtually destroyed the Roman Catholic Church in Germany.  Could it be that east Germans, who lived through the terror of war and more than 50 years of authoritarian rule - first under the Nazis and then under the Stalinists - find the notion of a loving and forgiving God patently ridiculous?

 

"Salafists, Evangelicals, Pius Brothers"

In recent days German officials have been alarmed by a campaign launched by the radical fundamentalist Salafist Muslims to distribute 300,000 Korans free of charge.  But, as the Roman Catholic priest Dr. Wolfgang Beck pointed out in the ARD program Das Wort am Sonntag the Salafists are no different from fundamentalist Christian sects in their simple-minded worldviews:

Egal, ob Piusbrüder, ob evangelikale Gruppierungen oder muslimische Salafisten, denen wir in diesen Wochen in den Fußgängerzonen begegnen können: Sie alle haben mehr gemeinsam, als ihnen wahrscheinlich lieb ist: Vor allem dieses Bemühen um größtmögliche Eindeutigkeit. Alle Kraft wird da hinein gesetzt, dass das Leben völlig übereinstimmt mit dem, was gepredigt wird. Das beeindruckt mich manchmal, und daneben sehe ich mit meinen Kompromissen meist recht schwach aus.

(Whether it's the Pius Brothers or evangelical groups or Muslim Salafists that we run into in the shopping zones in the past weeks: they all have more in common than they are willing to admit:  above all the striving for the greatest possible clarity. All the energy is is invested in making life totally consistent with the teachings. Sometimes I'm very impressed by this and see my own tendencies towards compromise as a sign of weakness.)

But, as Father Beck, continues, self-confessed weakness is preferable to fundamentalist certainty:

Und so schwach ich neben ihnen mit all meinen Kompromissen vielleicht aussehe, ich weiß zumindest, ich lasse mich wenigstens anfragen und irritieren. Das ist nicht so wenig.

(And as weak as I perhaps seem next to them with all my compromises, I know that I at least allow myself to question and irritate.  And that is something.)

 Needless to say, the evangelical Christian groups were outraged to be put in the same basket as radical Muslims and have issued a formal complaint to the ARD television network.  Meanwhile Pope Benedict XVI is planning on a formal reconciliation with the Holocaust-denying Pius Brothers.

German Officials Investigate "Catholic" Hate Site

The holocaust denial site kreuz.net has finally attracted the attention of German authorities.  As I've previously posted, the owners and operators of this site are anonymous and the content clearly violates German law with respect to incitement ("Volksverhetzung").  Now the Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection of the Constitution) is investigating the site, which routinely spreads hate against gays and lesbians as well as Muslims, Jews, democrats, and essentially all non-Catholics. 

Joachim Frank discusses the actions of the Verfassungsschutz in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger:

Diese ganze Camouflage ist jetzt ein Fall für den Verfassungsschutz geworden. Und da gehört sie auch hin. Denn die Art, wie die namenlosen kreuz.net-Macher Andersdenkende verunglimpfen, beleidigen, mit Schmähungen überziehen und gegen Werte wie Toleranz und die Einhaltung demokratischer Spielregeln hetzen, widerspricht nicht nur jedem Anstandsgefühl, sondern verletzt Gesetze und Grundnormen, etwa den besonderen Schutz von Minderheiten.

(This entire camoflage has become a case for the Verfassungschutz.  And that's where it belongs. For the way these nameless kreuz.net-operators vilify and insult, heap scorn on those with different beliefs and incite hatred against values such as toleranz or democratic priniciples stands in opposition to not just to common decency, but also violates laws and basic norms, such as protection of minorities.) 

My sense is that the Verfassungsschutz is basically incompetent and will not succeed in determining who is behind kreuz.net, much less shut it down.

Here's a tip:  kreuz.net is hosted in the United States by Chicago-based Steadfast Networks, a company which hosts a number of anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial sites. The officials in Germany can simply call up the CEO, Karl Zimmerman (tel. 312-602-2689).  He may be more receptive to their concerns, but I doubt it:  doing business with Nazis and other hate groups is simply too profitable.

What do white evangelical "Christians" believe?

Evidently the presidential campaign of former senator Rick Santorum - leader of the American Taliban - has been buoyed by the enthusiastic support of "white evangelical Christians".   As a self-identified Christian (Anglican variety), I am often baffled by the belief system of these "white evangelical Christians" since it seems diametrically opposed to my reading of the Gospel. 

A recent survey of "white evangelical Christians" in the Deep South provides a clue to Santorum's success:

Kurz zusammengefasst: In Alabama und Mississippi braucht der Präsident gar keinen Wahlkampf zu machen, denn er hat überhaupt keine Chance. Nicht nur, weil die Mehrheit hier konservativ ist, sondern weil die Evangelikalen und die Tea Party hier verheerend erfolgreich sind.Wo sonst sähen über 50 Prozent den reaktionären Talkshowproleten Rush Limbaugh positiv oder glaubten über 60 Prozent die Sache mit der Evolution stimme nicht. Und wo sonst dächten 45 Prozent (Alabama) oder 52 Prozent (Mississippi), Obama sei Muslim

(In summary, the President doesn't need to campaign in Alabama and Mississippi since he has no chance there.  Not just because the majority is conservative, bu also because the evangelicals and Tea Party have been so devastatingly successful.  Where else are more than 50% supporters of the reactionary talk show proletarian Rush Limbaugh or are more than 60% skeptical about evolution.  And where else do 45% (Alabama) or 52% (Mississippi) think that Obama is a Muslim.)

Let's examine some other core beliefs of "white evangelical Christians":

1. Bombing is always better than diplomacy.  Evangelicals believe we must bomb Iran now. 
2. Torture is good.  Frequent churchgoers are the most enthusiastic supporters of waterboarding.
3. Women are subordinate to men.  Here the evangelicals share the views of Mormons and Roman Catholics that women cannot be part of the church hierarchy and must surrender to the "servant leadership" of their husbands. 
4. Women who use contraceptives are "sluts" and "prostitutes".  Closely aligned with (3.) and confirmed by evangelicals' unconditional support for Rush Limbaugh.
5. Gays and Lesbians are evil.  Although there is some disagreement among evangelicals whether or not gays should be executed.  
6. Sickness and Disease are God's Will.  Therefore affordable health care - otherwise known as "Obamacare"  - is Satan's plan.  
7. The Poor will always  be with us.  Therefore welfare, public works programs, public education, etc. should be abolished.  
8. Ignorance is bliss.  Science education must be informed by creationism.
9. Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ.  How else to describe a Harvard-educated, socialist-Nazi Muslim black man?

Germany's Mormons

Europeans are becoming curious about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) - otherwise known as the Mormon Church - due to Mitt Romney's high-profile campaign to win the GOP nomination for president.  THe LDS is seen is as the American religion, but, in fact, it is growing faster outside the US thanks to the work of the young Mormon missionaries.  Romney himself was a missionary in Paris in the late 1960s and futilely tried to convince the French to give up their wine and tobacco.  I grew up in Chicago and never once encountered a Mormon until I moved to Germany and encountered two young American missionaries on the streets of Freiburg.  Later I had a classmate from northern Norway  - where people go crazy for lack of sunlight - who was a devout Mormon. 

There are about 35,000 members of the LDS church in Germany, including the Bergmann family in Bremen: 

Kerstin und Ingo Bergmann sind seit zwölf Jahren verheiratet. Beide sind in mormonischen Familien aufgewachsen. Nach Bremen sind sie wegen seines Berufs gezogen. Kerstin Bergmann hat damals ihren Job als Arzthelferin aufgegeben, um sich um die Kinder zu kümmern.

(Kerstin and Ingo Bergmann have been married for 12 years.  Both grew up in Mormon families. They moved to Bremen because of his job.  Kerstin gave up her job as a medical assistant to take care of the children)

And they have plenty of company in Bremen:

In Deutschland ist die Kirche schon lange vertreten. Die Bremer Gemeinde existiert seit 1882. Heute hat sie rund 400 Mitglieder, von denen etwa 150 regelmäßig den Gottesdienst besuchen. Die meisten Menschen hierzulande wissen allerdings wenig über diese Religionsgemeinschaft, die sich selbst als christliche Kirche versteht, von der katholischen und evangelischen Kirche aber nicht als solche akzeptiert wird.

(The LDS church has been in Germany for a long time.  The Bremen community has been around since 1882. Today it has 400 members, of which 150 regularly attend services.  But most people here know little about about this religious community, which considers itself a Christian church, but which is not accepted as such by Catholic and protestant churches.)

In fact, the LDS church has a polytheistic doctrine that has little in common with Christian theology (for details, see Ist der Mormonismus christlich?). There is nothing in this article about the strange, secret rituals hidden from outsiders, the magic underwear, or the bizarre practice of posthumously "baptizing" Jewish Holocaust victims into the LDS church.  Among those "converted" are the parents of Simon Wiesenthal, the parents of Nobel Prize-winner Elie Wiesel, and Anne Frank (nine times).

Unlike fundamentalist Christians, Mormons embrace science and - Romney is a good example - very successful in business (see Romney folgt der 'Kirche der Manager").  And the Mormons are one of the few polyglot groups in the US, thanks to their missionary work abroad. 

For anyone interested in the violent origins of the LDS church I highly recommend Jon Krackauer's 2003 book Under the Banner of Heaven (German version: Mord im Auftrag Gottes). 

Uta Ranke-Heinemann on holes in the Pope's condoms

I doubt I was the only person disgusted with the sight of Roman Catholic Bishops in their flowing robes and gold crosses lobbying members of the US Congress to deprive women of insurance coverage for birth control. What do these celibate old (white) men know about the challenges of raising a family? The fact that 98% of Catholic women in the US use contraceptives is meaningless to these men, who obey only the dictates from the Vatican against all reason and reality.  These are the same men who for decades covered up the epidemic of child rape by Catholic priests.  It is grotesque that they have any authority, much less influence, when it comes to the health care needs of women. 

The ex-priest and psychologist Eugen Drewermann has written brilliantly about the emotional damage on priests caused by the celibacy requirement in his book Kleriker: Pyschogramm eines Ideals (1991).   Celibacy, Drewermann shows, eventually leads to a distorted relationship with human sexuality, which then manifests itself in deviant behavior such as paedophilia.

The German theologian and one-time classmate of Josef Ratzinger, Uta Ranke-Heinemann, has gone even further in examining the hostility of the church towards women.  In her book Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality and the Catholic Church she explores the cult of the Virgin Mary and how the Church's obsession with the immaculate conception implies that normal sexual behavior is polluted and sexual pleasure sinful. 

The Church's hard line on contraception not only leads to unwanted pregnancies, but in Africa has accelerated the spread of the Aids virus.  Church leaders have insisted that condoms are useless in the preventing the Aids epidemic since it is "scientifically proved" that that condoms have holes.  Ranke-Heinemann wrote an essay Der Papst und die löchrigen Kondome ( "The Pope and the Holes in the Condoms") on the occasion of Pope Benedict's visit to Germany in 2006: 

Angesichts dieser AIDS-Tragödien klage ich die Päpste Johannes Paul II. und Benedikt XVI. an wegen jahrzehntelangen Verbrechens in Form von tödlicher Irreführung der Menschheit. Ich klage sie an, an Krankheit und Tod vieler Menschen die Schuld zu tragen mit ihrer unsinnigen, unerbittlichen Behauptung, daß Kondome Löcher hätten und in die Hölle führen. Ich verlange vom Vatikan, allen betroffenen Ehefrauen Afrikas und weltweit die medizinische Versorgung zu finanzieren und ihnen und ihren Familien Schadensersatz zu leisten. Die Pädophilieskandale haben die Kirche viel Geld gekostet. Ich sehe nicht ein, wieso HIV-Infizierung und Tötung von Ehefrauen nicht ebenfalls finanzielle Folgen für die Verursacher haben sollten.

(Because of the AIDS tragedy I accuse Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVL of the decades-long crime of misleading humanity with deadly consequences. I accuse them of being guiltyof condemning many people to deal with their idiotic and insistent claim that condoms have holes and will lead to eternal damnation. I demand that the Vatican pay for the medical care of the wives in Africa and worldwide and make restitution to them and to their families. The paedophile scandals have cost the church a great deal of money. I see no reason why the HIV infection and killing of wives should not also have financial consequences for the perpetrators.)

Uta Ranke-Heinemann studied with Joseph Ratzinger at the University of Munich, and became the first woman to hold the chair of Catholic theology at the University of Essen, which she lost in 1987 (she considers herself  excommunicated  according to Canon 1364 § 1 CIC and Canon 751 CIC) for voicing doubts of the virgin birth.  When informed of the decision concerning losing the chair, she turned to her old classmate Ratzinger for help and guidance, but none was forthcoming.

Pope Benedict's Speech to the Bundestag

For the first time a pope addressed the German parliament and the speech was a pleasant surprise.  I had expected Benedict XVI to harangue the German lawmakers for succumbing to moral relativism, to criticize Germans for their lack of religiosity, to ask what happened to the "C" in the CDU.  Instead, Benedict/Ratzinger gave one of his brilliant lectures on the nature of reason and faith - in this instance elucidating the ethical foundation of law.  You can read the speech in its entirety: Deutsch , English translation. 

Benedict begins his speech by reminding the members of the Bundestag of the importance of their work.  What is the meaning of politics?  How often our polticians forget! Benedict uses the story of King Solomon to illistrate the mission of the politician:

Die Bibel will uns mit dieser Erzählung sagen, worauf es für einen Politiker letztlich ankommen muss. Sein letzter Maßstab und der Grund für seine Arbeit als Politiker darf nicht der Erfolg und schon gar nicht materieller Gewinn sein. Die Politik muss Mühen um Gerechtigkeit sein und so die Grundvoraussetzung für Friede schaffen. Natürlich wird ein Politiker den Erfolg suchen, ohne den er überhaupt nicht die Möglichkeit politischer Gestaltung hätte. Aber der Erfolg ist dem Maßstab der Gerechtigkeit, dem Willen zum Recht und dem Verstehen für das Recht untergeordnet.

(Through this story, the Bible wants to tell us what should ultimately matter for a politician. His fundamental criterion and the motivation for his work as a politician must not be success, and certainly not material gain. Politics must be a striving for justice, and hence it has to establish the fundamental preconditions for peace. Naturally a politician will seek success, without which he would have no opportunity for effective political action at all. Yet success is subordinated to the criterion of justice, to the will to do what is right, and to the understanding of what is right.)

But how are we to discern what is right and just? History - especially German history, as Benedict points out - is replete with cases where politicians, following populist will, created a babaric injustice.  The danger arises from positivism: the purely scientific, functional views of nature and man.

Wo die positivistische Vernunft sich allein als die genügende Kultur ansieht und alle anderen kulturellen Realitäten in den Status der Subkultur verbannt, da verkleinert sie den Menschen, ja sie bedroht seine Menschlichkeit.

(Where positivist reason dominates the field to the exclusion of all else – and that is broadly the case in our public mindset – then the classical sources of knowledge for ethics and law are excluded. This is a dramatic situation which affects everyone, and on which a public debate is necessary. Indeed, an essential goal of this address is to issue an urgent invitation to launch one.)

Here one might have expected Benedict to hold up the Church as the bulwark against the positivist onslaught.  But he surprised everyone by praising the Green Party as a force for good in tuning back the purely instrumental view of nature.  (Several Green Party members had threatened to boycott the speech). But the rejection of positivism and the preservation of nature must extend to human beings as well.  What Benedict points to is an "ecology of humanity":

Es gibt auch eine Ökologie des Menschen. Auch der Mensch hat eine Natur, die er achten muss und die er nicht beliebig manipulieren kann. Der Mensch ist nicht nur sich selbst machende Freiheit. Der Mensch macht sich nicht selbst. Er ist Geist und Wille, aber er ist auch Natur, und sein Wille ist dann recht, wenn er auf die Natur hört, sie achtet und sich annimmt als der, der er ist und der sich nicht selbst gemacht hat. Gerade so und nur so vollzieht sich wahre menschliche Freiheit.

(Yet I would like to underline a point that seems to me to be neglected, today as in the past: there is also an ecology of man. Man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will. Man is not merely self-creating freedom. Man does not create himself. He is intellect and will, but he is also nature, and his will is rightly ordered if he respects his nature, listens to it and accepts himself for who he is, as one who did not create himself. In this way, and in no other, is true human freedom fulfilled.)

Did the speech make a difference?  Probably not: politicians will continue to pursue power for the sake of power.  But I'd like to think that one or two listeners in the Bundestag might have reflected - for a moment - on why they got into politics in the first place. 

Christianity - It's not for everyone

Markus Schwerdtfeger visited the Evangelischer Kirchentag (Evangelical Church Conference) in Dresden and was appalled at what he saw: 

Wie auf Kirchentagen so üblich, präsentieren sich zahlreiche Initiativen, Gruppen und Organisationen mit Ständen. In Dresden nennt sich das „Markt der Möglichkeiten“. Dort findet man alles, was sonst eher auf einem Grünenparteitag beheimatet ist: Friedens­bewegte, sogar etwas Kuba-Solidarität, Schwule und Lesben, Zigeuner-Fans – jeder kann sich auf ein paar Quadratmetern präsentieren. Und auch wieder Muslime laufen umher und beugen sich interessiert über die Schaukästen der postmodernen Aussteller.

(As one often finds at church conferences, many initiatives, groups and organizaions have set up stands.  In Dresden they are called the "Market of Possibilities". There one can find everything that one would expect to see at a Green Party conference: peace groups, a group promoting solidarity with Cuba, gays and lesbians, fans of the gypsies - they all have a few square feet to present their cause. And Muslims are walking around, looking with interest at the post-modern exhibits.)

Schwerdtfeger gets ill listening to the speech by the star of German Protestant movement - Margot Käßmann -, especially when she calls for dialogue and coexistence with the Turkish community in Germany.  This, of course, can only enrage a Sarrazin- fan lik Schwerdtfeger.  "God", he writes, "would vomit."  („Gott würde kotzen, wenn er das sieht!“).

For what Käßmann and the other German Protestants fail to understand is that God hates the Turks and all all Muslims.  God hates the gypsies.  And, above all, God hates all gays and lesbians.  God will forever be on the side of the Deutsche Christen (German Christians)  who represent all that is good and (racially) pure in the German Volk. 

Catholic doctors in Germany offer "cure" for homosexuality

Cross-posted at Daily Kos.

In the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church gays and lesbians are "objectively disordered" and homosexual behavior is against divine and natural law.  So a group of doctors in Bavaria - the home state of Pope Benedict XVI - have offered a "cure".  The Union of Catholic Doctors (Bund Katholischer Ärzte) have provided information to the afflicted on their Web site. 

The doctors are offering help for those afflicted with "homosexual tendencies" which they believe are "acquired traits" and are in no way innate ("angeboren").  The three-pronged treatment regimen is described as follows: 

The therapy includes psychotherapy and homeopathic treatment, controversial in itself, that consisted of using high concentrations of substances like platinum.

The BKÄ insisted that it was only providing help for people who asked for it. "We know of many people with homosexual tendencies in spiritual and psychological distress," BKÄ boss Gero Winkelmann told news magazine Der Spiegel. "If someone is unhappy, sick, or in distress then he or she should be able to find opportunities to find help on our website."

Winkelmann runs a private homeopathic practice in Unterhaching, Bavaria, and was previously active in a small political party called the Christian League.

Homeopathy is more popular in Germany than in the US, but is very controversial.  There have been numerous scientific studies that dispute the efficacy of homeopathic remedies and many medical professionals consider it dangerous.  

Needless to say, gay and lesbian groups in Germany are outraged:

The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) has called the offer of advice an "insult" and an "imposition," and accused the organization in question, the Catholic Physicians in Germany (BKÄ), of "lacking respect for homosexual and bisexual people."

Basically, what the doctors in the Bavaria are offering is a fake remedy for a non-existent illness. 

Inside the Scientology Cult

Sueddeutsche Zeitung is the only German media outlet I could find that picked up on Lawrence Wright's stunning exposé of Scientology in this week's New Yorker.  Wright was able to interview Hollywood screenwriter Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), who rose to the highest levels in the "church" before leaving the cult in disgust in 2008. The SZ reports: 

Wright hat mit Der Tod wird euch finden das wahrscheinlich beste Buch über 9/11 geschrieben und ist einer der wichtigsten Vertreter des sogenannten "New New Journalism". Damit bezeichnet man in den USA Journalisten wie Wright, William Langewiesche oder Jon Krakauer, die mit monatelang recherchierten, fast buchlangen Texten gegen die Infokultur der Medienbranche angetreten sind. "Der Apostat" ist nun nicht nur eine der am besten recherchierten und erzählten Geschichten über die Church of Scientology. Weil Paul Haggis die zweithöchste Erkenntnisstufe eines Thetan VII erreicht hatte und als Hollywoodgröße Teil eines umhegten inneren Zirkels der Sekte war, bekommt man ungleich tiefere Einblicke in die inneren Verhältnisse als aus allen bisherigen Berichte von Aussteigern.

(With "The Looming Tower" Wrtight wrote what is probably the best book about 9/11 and is one of the most important representatives of the so-called "New New Journalism".  This refers to journalists in the US like Wright, Willaim Langewiesche or Jon Krakauer, who conduct months-long research and with practically book-length texts that challenge the info-culture of the media sector.  "The Apostate" is not just one of the best researched and written stories about the Church of Scientology.  Since Paul Haggis had attained the second-highest level of at Thetan VII and has a Hollywood celebrity was part of the closed-off inner circle of the cult, we get a deeper look into the inner workings than in all the reports up to now from others who escaped from the cult. )

Wright's long piece The Apostate can be found here. 

Scientology is far more controversial in Germany - where it does not have the status of a religion.  It is viewed - rightfully - as a dangerous mind-control cult which has a hundred ways of parting converts with their money - leaving many destitute.  Last year the German public television network ARD produced a feature film about a Scientology dropout  - Bis nichts mehr bleibt- which attracted a record audience. (You can watch the very suspenseful film on YouTube.)

What is clear from Wright's piece - and what is also apparent in Bis nichts mehr bleibt - is that every aspect of Scientology - from the biography of its founder to the purported "benefits" of "auditing" - is fraudulent.