Luther - the Source of Anti-Semitism in Germany
Anti-Semitism and Contempt for Human Dignity in Germany
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Besier Prof. Dr. Erwin K. Scheuch
An inquiry of anti-Semitism, commissioned by the German Bundestag, proves that one of every five Germans is at least a latent anti-Semite.
Inquiry of Anti-Semtism: http://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2012/37499490_kw04_antisemitismusbericht/index.html (viewed on May 1st, 2012)
Anti-Semites are misanthropists; they are despisers of mankind, racists, antagonists of the Jews, women-haters and xenophobes. They are in the midst of us. It can be the neighbor you meet in the supermarket. The mother who takes her children to school in the morning. The teacher of religion, the doctor, the journalist, the public official, the policeman, the professor, the politician, and so on.
You can find them in cities and in villages, in all educated classes, in all age levels and in all income groups. It’s not only the skinheads, who spread terror publicly, but also the invisible misanthropists, who pose a threat.
The excrescence of this contempt for human dignity is evident in the murders of the right wing terrorists "Zwickauer Zelle".
"How could this happen? Why did we not take notice any earlier? Why could we not prevent this from happening?"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Berlin Concert Hall on Feb. 23 of 2012
Now let us look at further aspects and see how the contempt for human dignity is reproducing unnoticed in our society. Listen to the following:
Sect Commissioners: Anti-democratic and Anti-Semitic
Prof. Kriele, emeritus professor for General Political Science and Public Law and former judge at the Constitutional Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, today counts as one of the leading constitutional law experts in Germany. As early as in the year of 1996, Prof. Kriele writes, what should have shaken up the minds long ago. He writes about "The fascistic traits of the sect hunt".
'Fascistic' means anti-democratic. 'Fascistic' means organized according to the "Führer"-principle. Kriele’s admonitions are abundantly clear. He describes the sect hunt in our time, the violation of human rights, the hatred for people with different faith:
A typically fascistic element is their aggression against defenseless minorities. [...] The commissioners for sect issues become raving mad whenever they encounter people whose convictions deviate from the prevailing trend. Taking advantage of their defenselessness, making them objects of contempt, jeering and ridiculing them, endeavoring to educate mere schoolchildren to marginalize and reject them [...]
Kriele, Martin (1996): Fascists Elements of the "Sect Hunt". In: Besier, Gerhard; Scheuch, Erwin K. (Publishers): The New Inquisitors. Part I; Zurich 1999: Edition Interfrom; 394-403
And further:
Another fascist feature of the campaign being waged against sects is the unawareness of the law, i.e. the countless attempts at undermining, evading or violating the legal rules that are supposed to protect minorities. [...] These include the disregard – or [...] the violation of the data protection laws, the indoctrination and manipulation of judges at the academy of judiciary, etc.
ibbd.
And further:
A typical symptom of fascist terror is that groups, which are affected themselves, keep their distance to other "sects" and become involved in the campaigns against these other sects in the hopes of getting on the right side of the sect hunters.
ibbd.
Well, meanwhile even leaders of Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, formerly derided as "sects", have adapted this code of behavior. Amazingly, even these hope to be accepted by the sect commissioners.
Let me continue to quote:
Another typically fascistic element is the endeavor to create divisions in groups and to incite them to attack each other.
ibbd.
And further:
«Sect» is another word for «heretic» and what held for heretics in the past also holds today in Germany once more: «Exterminandus est» - if not by fire [...], then by defamation, isolation and economic destruction.
ibbd.
It is obvious how the 'Old Fritz', Friedrich II., determined our society’s direction 250 years ago, when he said:
Of all sects, the Jews are the most dangerous and one has to prevent their number from growing.
Der Spiegel, 45/2011, S. 83
Basically, nothing has changed throughout history.
Richard-Wagner-Gymnasium in Bayreuth:
From Teacher of Religion to Swastika
The behavior of children and adolescents is formed at an early stage – most of all in the parents’ home and also at school. Children adopt their behavior from good and bad examples alike. If our today’s generation sets an example of contempt for human dignity, children and adolescents will adopt this attitude. Since they have not reached maturity, they are easily influenced as we can see in one of many examples:
A summer night in Weidenberg. Teenagers defile the outer facade of a building. They throw bottles and stones. The building is damaged. The police investigates.
Further acts of revenge follow:
Bottles burst on the parking lot. Power cables are ripped out, the doorbell is destroyed.
Now it is winter in Weidenberg. Teenagers draw a swastika in the snow adding the words: "fucking sect".
Some of the students were caught and questioned by the police. They gave the reasons for their behavior: They had been taught in Protestant religious education at school, that their victim was supposedly a dangerous sect. Their teacher of religion, a former university chaplain, Doctor of Divinity and private lecturer – his name is known to the editorial team – had informed his students about this topic at the Richard-Wagner-Gymnasium (academic high school) in Bayreuth.
Can it be a coincidence that Luther’s spirit is reflected in such a way at the Richard-Wagner-Gymnasium in Bayreuth, of all schools? Such scenes remind us of Luther’s agitation against the Jews and the vandalism against the Jews in the Kristallnacht.
Why is Germany Blind in the Right Eye?
Why are our leaders of society and politics blind in the right eye?
The answer is at hand: The state church penetrates politics and state. Virtually every politician is involved in a state church. As long as there is no consequent separation between state and church, nothing will change and Luther’s mindset will be adopted by the next generation, children will be misinformed by teachers, who get their information from sect commissioners, and they will be brought up to hold others in contempt and educated to despise others.
An appeal of renowned professors and scientists disapproves of the recommendations of the Enquete-Commission, which scrutinized new religious movements by order of the German Bundestag.
In their press release of 28 May 1998, the retired German Federal Minister Prof. Dr. Hans Apel, Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Besier, Prof. Dr. Niels Birbaumer, Prof. Dr. Martin Kriele, Prof. Dr. Hermann Lübbe and Prof. Dr. Erwin Scheuch disapproved of the recommendations of the Enquete-Commission. Moved by serious concern, they appeal to the German people:
We ask the German population neither to be impressed by the new mental monopoly- and control claim nor to be contaminated by the heretic hysteria of the sect hunters nor to participate in the demonization of minorities nor to denunciate others, because they take part in meetings of this or that group.
Apel, Hans; Besier, Gerhard; Birbaumer, Niels; Kriele, Martin; Lübbe, Hermann; Scheuch, Erwin K. (1998): Press Release 28 May 1998: Does the German State partake in the defamation and discrimination of religious and ideological minorities? An open society doesn’t need an ideology control. In: Besier, Gerhard; Scheuch, Erwin K. (Publishers): The new Inquisitors. Part 2; Zurich 1999: Edition Interfrom; 26-33
However, hardly anyone paid attention to this warning.
Love your Neighbor!
Misanthropy and contempt for human dignity begins in the every day life, with the words that are spoken and with the words that are accepted in the personal environment. The misanthropic and inhuman spirit of Luther subverts the values of our society. Silence finally turns into acceptance – be it due to cowardice, ignorance, or indifference. At first, it might only affect the other – the Turk, the Jew, the black person, the one with a different religion, faith, or mentality. In the end, you might be the target!
Evil prevails only when good people fail to act.
And one more thought at the end:
How about unfeigned love for the Turks, love for the Jews, love for the blacks, love for the strangers, love for those who think differently, love for those with a different religion?
How about being able to live out your own human rights in a democracy, without facing discrimination?
