The Christian churches have sharply differentiated themselves from the AfD. As employers, they also want nothing to do with supporters of the far-right party. This affects hundreds of thousands of employees.
Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch does not want to tolerate convinced AfD voters in his own ranks. “Anyone who votes for the AfD out of conviction cannot work in the diakonia,” Schuch told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Tuesday). “Basically, these people can no longer count themselves as part of the church, because the AfD’s anti-human worldview contradicts the Christian view of humanity.” And he added: “Anyone who supports the AfD has to go.”
The Protestant welfare association Diakonie Deutschland is one of the largest employers and, according to its own information, employs more than 627,000 people. The two large Christian churches have sharply differentiated themselves from the AfD. As employers, many church-supported institutions are so-called trend companies and have comparatively great freedom to decide who they employ.
Offers to talk instead of testing your attitude
In the interview, Schuch said that the employees concerned should first be spoken to and it should be made clear that there is no place for inhumane statements in Diakonie facilities. In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, he also emphasized that there should be no attitude tests for employees. There are only cause-related discussions if they attract attention through statements or actions in the work environment. “If there is a lasting conflict, the consequences under labor law must be examined,” he said, weakening his previous statement.
This applies not only to convinced AfD supporters, but “to everyone who places themselves outside our Basic Law and degrades people,” added Schuch. It doesn’t matter whether it’s right-wing, left-wing or religious extremist.
Schuch said he was happy that the AfD had also taken part in Diakonie’s newly introduced electoral assistance portal for the European elections, “Sozial-O-Mat”. With the online portal, similar to “Wahl-O-Mat”, you can compare your own political positions with those of the parties – in this case related to social policy issues such as the minimum wage or social assistance.
AfD speaks of witch hunts
The AfD reacted angrily to Schuch’s comments in the interview. The church political spokeswoman Nicole Höchst spoke of a “modern witch hunt against the AfD” that is un-Christian and anti-human. The Diakonie President’s statements were “hollow phrases”. “The Diakonie must accept the accusation of violating Article Four of the Basic Law,” said Höchst. Article 4 guarantees freedom of belief, conscience and religion. AfD member of the Bundestag René Springer criticized Schuch’s statements as contradicting the basic principle of protecting citizens from political discrimination.
The Lutheran Bishops’ Conference had already warned against the AfD in March and declared: “Anyone who votes for the AfD is supporting a party that tramples on the Christian view of humanity.” In a resolution from February, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference formulated the following: “We say with all clarity: ethnic nationalism is incompatible with the Christian view of God and humanity.”
The Catholic German Caritas Association, which employs almost 696,000 people in social institutions, says it is in the process of clarifying what this means in terms of labor law. The association resolutely rejects “extremist, fundamentalist, racist, anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, nationalist, xenophobic positions,” said a spokeswoman when asked.
The “basic order of church service,” which regulates labor law in the Catholic Church, also explicitly refers to the rejection of anti-church positions. A working group is currently discussing specific labor law issues as a consequence of this basic attitude.
“For the preservation of the open society”
As “tendency companies,” Christian employers have special rights and can impose certain requirements on their employees in order to preserve the “credibility of the church” or its moral teachings. In the past, for example, marriage to a divorced partner or secretly leaving the church were considered grounds for dismissal for employees.
Diakonie President Schuch warned employers in Germany to ask their employees to vote. Democracy is not a sure-fire success. Schuch added: “Every company in Germany should therefore examine its attitude and ask itself whether it is doing enough to maintain the open society.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
